تکرار

What it means

تکرار (tekrâr) means repetition, a repeat, or the act of doing something again. It is borrowed from Arabic تَكْرار (takrâr), from the root K-R-R meaning to turn back or to return, which also gives the form مکرر (mokarrar, repeated, multiple). In Persian the word functions as a noun: تکرار اشتباه (tekrâr-e eshtebâh) means repeating a mistake. The derived verb is تکرار کردن (tekrâr kardan, to repeat), and the adjective تکراری (tekrâri) means repetitive, tedious, or recurring. In informal speech تکراری is often mildly critical, describing something boring through repetition, while the noun تکرار itself is neutral.

How to use it

• تکرار کلمه کمک می‌کنه حفظش کنی. (tekrâr-e kalame komak mikone hefzesh koni.) “Repeating the word helps you memorize it.”
• این داستان خیلی تکراریه. (in dâstân kheyli tekrâriye.) “This story is very repetitive.”
• تکرار کن، نفهمیدم. (tekrâr kon, nafahmidam.) “Repeat it, I didn’t understand.”
• تکرار اشتباه گذشته رو نکن. (tekrâr-e eshtebâh-e gozashte ro nakon.) “Don’t repeat past mistakes.”

Cultural note

In Persian classical pedagogy and Islamic scholarship, تکرار was treated not as tedium but as the engine of learning. Memorizing the Quran, learning ghazals by heart, and drilling Arabic grammar all relied on deliberate, sustained repetition. In Iranian education, repetition is traditionally valued as a core method of learning rather than dismissed as a shortcut. Language learners and musicians still invoke it seriously.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab