What it means
تاول (tâval) is the everyday Persian word for a blister: the raised, fluid-filled bubble of skin that forms after a burn, a scald, repeated rubbing, or wearing tight shoes. It is a native Persian word and works in both casual and clinical speech. When the blister breaks, people often switch to زخم (zakhm), “wound,” to describe the raw skin underneath, so تاول is specifically the intact bubble stage.
How to use it
- پام تاول زده. (pâm tâval zade.) “My foot has blistered.”
- کفش نو پاشنهمو تاول انداخت. (kafsh-e no pâshne-mo tâval andâkht.) “The new shoes gave my heel a blister.”
- تاول رو نترکون. (tâval ro natarkun.) “Don’t pop the blister.”
- دستم با آب جوش تاول زد. (dastam bâ âb-e jush tâval zad.) “My hand blistered from the boiling water.”
Cultural note
In spoken Persian, blisters are usually described with the verb تاول زدن (tâval zadan), literally “to strike a blister,” rather than with a single noun phrase. This is common with body symptoms in Persian, where a light verb pairs with the noun to describe what the body does. Friction blisters from new shoes and burn blisters from kitchen accidents are the most familiar contexts, and the standard home advice is to leave the blister intact so the skin underneath can heal.