What it means
تعطیلی (ta’tili) means holiday, closure, or recess. The base تعطیل (ta’til) is borrowed from Arabic, built on the root ع-ط-ل (‘a-t-l) which carries the sense of suspension, cessation, or idleness. The Arabic form تعطیل (ta’til) means the act of stopping or closing. The Persian form تعطیلی adds the Persian abstract suffix -ی (-i), the same suffix that forms nouns like زیبایی (zibâyi, beauty) and خوشی (khoshi, happiness), giving the meaning “the condition of being closed or on break.” Iranians use it for school holidays, public holidays, and any officially closed day. A related word is تعطیل (ta’til) without the final -i, which functions more as the adjective: مدرسه تعطیله (madrese ta’tile, the school is closed). The close synonym مرخصی (morakkhasi) also means time off but implies a personal leave granted to an individual, whereas تعطیلی refers to a collective, official closure.
How to use it
- فردا تعطیله (fardâ ta’tile) “Tomorrow is a holiday.”
- تعطیلات نوروز چند روزه؟ (ta’tilât-e nowruz chand ruzeh?) “How many days is the Nowruz holiday?”
- تعطیلیهای تابستون رو دوست دارم (ta’tili-hâ-ye tâbestun ro dust dâram) “I love the summer holidays.”
- مدرسه به خاطر برف تعطیل شد (madrese be khâter-e barf ta’til shod) “School closed because of the snow.”
Cultural note
The Iranian school calendar runs from late Shahrivar (mid-September) to late Khordad (mid-June), with تعطیلیهای نوروز (Nowruz holidays) as the longest and most anticipated break, lasting about two weeks around the Persian New Year in late March. Snow closures are another beloved kind of تعطیلی: a heavy overnight snowfall in Tehran means a flurry of phone calls between parents the next morning confirming whether schools are تعطیل. The word also carries a slightly wistful tone in adult speech, where people say «کاش امروز تعطیل بود» (I wish today were a holiday) as a mild complaint about a hard workday.