What it means
سیل (seyl) means a flood or flash flood: a sudden, powerful rush of water caused by heavy rainfall, snowmelt, or dam failure. The word is borrowed from Arabic سَيْل (sayl), which refers to a torrent or flowing flood water. In Persian it is the standard, neutral word for any flood event, from a seasonal river overflow to a catastrophic flash flood. A related term is آبگرفتگی (ab-geraftegi), which tends to mean waterlogging or urban flooding, while seyl implies a moving, destructive surge of water.
How to use it
- سیل خونههای روستا رو برد. (seyl khune-ha-ye rowsta ro bord.) “The flood swept away the village houses.”
- بعد از بارون سیل راهها رو بست. (ba’d az barun seyl rah-ha ro bast.) “After the rain, the flood blocked the roads.”
- مردم از مناطق سیلزده تخلیه شدن. (mardom az manateq-e seylzade takhlie shodan.) “People were evacuated from the flood-hit areas.”
- سیل سال ۱۳۹۸ خسارت سنگینی زد. (seyl-e sal-e 1398 khasarat-e sangini zad.) “The flood of 1398 caused heavy damage.”
Cultural note
Flash floods are a recurring natural hazard in Iran, particularly in the Zagros mountain valleys and the arid south where seasonal rivers (رودخانههای فصلی) fill without warning after sudden rain. The catastrophic floods of spring 1398 (2019) affected 25 provinces and killed dozens, making سیل a word with sharp contemporary resonance for Iranians. Iranian poetry also uses seyl metaphorically: the flood of tears, the flood of longing, or the unstoppable rush of an army.