What it means
سیمان (simân) means cement, the grey powder used to make concrete and mortar. The word is a direct borrowing from French ciment, which itself descends from Latin caementum. Persian adopted it in the twentieth century as modern construction materials arrived in the country. There is no native Persian equivalent for the industrial product, so the French loanword became the standard term. In construction contexts سیمان is used alongside بتون (betun, concrete, also from French), and the two words are often confused: سیمان is the dry binding powder, while بتون is the mixed, hardened material.
How to use it
- یه کیسه سیمان بخر. (Ye kise simân bekhar.) “Buy a bag of cement.”
- کف حیاط رو با سیمان پر کردن. (Kaf-e hayât ro bâ simân por kardan.) “They filled the courtyard floor with cement.”
- دیوار سیمانیه. (Divâr simâniye.) “The wall is made of cement.”
- کارخونهی سیمان اینجاست. (Kârkhune-ye simân injâste.) “The cement factory is here.”
Cultural note
The large-scale use of cement in Iran began during the Pahlavi era in the twentieth century, when the government invested heavily in infrastructure and urban construction. The first cement factory in Iran opened in Rey, near Tehran, in 1933. Rapid urbanization from the 1960s onward turned سیمان into a word every Iranian household knows. Today Iran is one of the largest cement producers in the region, and the grey surfaces of Tehran’s urban landscape make سیمان a very visible part of daily life.