What it means
تأخیر (ta’khir) means delay, postponement, or lateness. Persian borrowed it from Arabic, where it is the verbal noun (masdar) of the verb تأخّر (ta’akhkhara), meaning to be late or to fall behind. The Arabic root is أ-خ-ر (a-kh-r), which relates to concepts of coming after or being last, also found in the common Arabic and Persian word آخر (âkhar), meaning last or end. In Persian, تأخیر is used for flight delays (تأخیر پرواز, ta’khir-e parvâz), trains running late, appointments postponed, or any situation where something arrives or happens later than expected. A close synonym in informal speech is دیرکرد (dirkard), a native Persian compound meaning lateness, though تأخیر is the standard formal term.
How to use it
- پروازمون دو ساعت تأخیر داره. (parvâzmun do sâat ta’khir dâre.) “Our flight has a two-hour delay.”
- بخاطر تأخیر معذرت میخوام. (be-khâter-e ta’khir ma’zerat mikhâm.) “I apologize for the delay.”
- چرا قطار تأخیر داره؟ (cherâ qatâr ta’khir dâre?) “Why is the train delayed?”
- تأخیر بدون اطلاع قبلی بود. (ta’khir bedun-e ettelâ-e qabli bud.) “The delay was without prior notice.”
Cultural note
Delays are a common feature of air travel in Iran, partly due to an aging fleet made difficult to maintain by decades of international sanctions on aviation parts and technology. Iranian airports display تأخیر prominently on departure boards, and experienced travelers often build extra waiting time into their plans. The word also carries a cultural subtext: Iranian attitudes toward time and punctuality vary considerably between formal institutional settings (where تأخیر is a problem to be announced) and social settings (where arriving late is often unremarkable and the word دیر (dir, late) is used more casually).