What it means
سیفون (sifon) is a French loanword, borrowed from French siphon, which traces back to Greek siphon meaning tube or pipe. Moin’s authoritative Persian dictionary marks it as French in origin. In everyday Persian speech سیفون refers specifically to the toilet flush mechanism, either the cistern tank on the wall or the flush handle itself. When someone says سیفون رو بکش (pull the sifon), they mean flush the toilet. In a wider technical sense the word can also describe any siphon pipe used in plumbing, but the toilet flush meaning is by far the most common colloquial use.
How to use it
- سیفون رو بکش بعد از هر بار استفاده. (sifon ro bokesh ba’d az har bar estefade.) “Pull the flush after every use.”
- سیفون خرابه، آب قطع نمیشه. (sifon kharabe, ab qat’ nemishe.) “The cistern is broken, the water does not stop.”
- صدای سیفون از دستشویی میاد. (seda-ye sifon az dastshui miyad.) “The sound of the flush is coming from the bathroom.”
- لولهکش گفت باید فلوتر سیفون عوض بشه. (lule-kesh goft bayad flotar-e sifon avaz beshe.) “The plumber said the cistern float needs to be replaced.”
Cultural note
The term سیفون entered Persian during the late Qajar and early Pahlavi periods alongside the introduction of Western sanitary plumbing into Iranian cities. Before flush toilets became standard, pit latrines were the norm. The French origin of the word reflects the broader cultural influence France had on Iranian elite society during the nineteenth century, when French was the prestige foreign language in Iran’s educated circles. Today سیفون is completely everyday vocabulary used by all age groups.