What it means
سیرن (siren) refers to the wailing alarm device mounted on emergency vehicles: ambulances, police cars, and fire engines. The word is a borrowing from French sirene, which named the acoustic device invented by French physicist Cagniard de la Tour in the early 1800s. The French word in turn came from the Greek mythological Seirenes, the sea creatures whose song was impossible to resist. In everyday Iranian Persian سیرن is the standard spoken term; you may also hear آژیر (azhir), which is the more formal or written alternative.
How to use it
- صدای سیرن آمبولانس میاد. (seda-ye siren-e ambulans miad.) “I can hear the ambulance siren coming.”
- سیرن ماشین پلیس روشن بود. (siren-e mashin-e polis rowshan bud.) “The police car’s siren was on.”
- وقتی سیرن میزنه باید کنار بری. (vaghti siren mizane bayad kenar beri.) “When the siren goes off you have to pull over.”
- صدای سیرن آتشنشانی از دور میاد. (seda-ye siren-e atash-nashani az dur miad.) “The sound of the fire engine siren is coming from far away.”
Cultural note
In Tehran and other large Iranian cities, traffic congestion means emergency vehicles can spend several minutes stuck behind cars even with their سیرن sounding. Pulling over to make way is legally required and widely expected, though narrow streets in older neighborhoods can make it physically difficult. The sound of a سیرن at night in a residential area is a common source of neighbourhood anxiety and is often the prompt for bystanders to start filming on their phones.