سرد

What it means

سرد (sard) means “cold.” It covers physical temperature (cold water, cold weather) and emotional register (a cold reception, a cold person). Foundation A1 adjective in the weather cluster.

How to use it

• هوا سرد است (havâ sard ast) “The weather is cold”
• آب سرد (âb-e sard) “cold water”
• دستم سرد است (dastam sard ast) “My hand is cold”
• برخورد سرد (barkhord-e sard) “a cold reception”

Paradigm comparisons

• Antonym: گرم (garm) “warm, hot”
• Near-synonym: خنک (khonak) “cool” (pleasantly cool, not cold)
• Intensifier: خیلی سرد (kheyli sard) “very cold”
• Comparative: سردتر (sardtar) “colder”
• Superlative: سردترین (sardtarin) “the coldest”

Cultural note

Tehran winters drop below freezing and the snow on the Alborz mountains stays into spring. “Havâ sard shode” (the weather has turned cold) is the small-talk opener of late November. Sard ham applies to food: rice eaten cold the next day is برنج سرد (berenj-e sard), considered second-best to fresh.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab