What it means
ترافیک (terâfik) refers to the volume of vehicles on a road and, more commonly in everyday speech, to heavy congestion. It is a loanword that entered Persian from French “trafic,” in keeping with the broader pattern of Persian adopting its modern transport vocabulary from French during the twentieth century. Words like اتوبوس (otobus), گاراژ (garâj), and شوفر (shofer) entered Persian the same way. ترافیک is used neutrally across all registers, from news broadcasts to casual conversation. A rough synonym in formal writing is ترددِ وسایل نقلیه, but nobody says that in the street.
How to use it
- ترافیک خیلی سنگینه، دیر میرسیم. (terâfik kheyli sangineh, dir miresim.) “Traffic is very heavy, we’ll be late.”
- تو ترافیک گیر کردم. (tu terâfik gir kardam.) “I got stuck in traffic.”
- ساعت هفت صبح ترافیک تهران دیوونهکنندهست. (sâat haft sobh terâfik-e Tehrân divuneh-konandeh-st.) “Tehran traffic at seven in the morning is maddening.”
- بیا از بزرگراه بریم، ترافیک اتوبان کمتره. (biâ az bozorgrâh berim, terâfik-e otobân kamtare.) “Let’s take the freeway, freeway traffic is lighter.”
Cultural note
Tehran consistently ranks among the most congested cities in the world, and ترافیک is one of the first words any visitor learns. Odd-even license-plate restrictions (طرح ترافیک, tarh-e terâfik) have been in place in central Tehran since 1979, making the word part of daily planning conversations. Taxi drivers, radio presenters, and navigation apps all use ترافیک without hesitation, reflecting how completely the loanword has naturalized into Persian.