What it means
وزن (vazn) entered Persian from Arabic, where the root و-ز-ن (w-z-n) carries the core meaning of weighing and balancing. In everyday Persian it means weight on a scale: وزنم بالا رفته means “my weight has gone up.” It also applies to the weight of objects and, importantly, to the metrical rhythm of classical poetry, where وزن refers to the prosodic pattern of a verse. A functional synonym for body weight in colloquial speech is سنگینی (sangini), but وزن is the standard neutral term used in science, medicine, and daily life alike.
How to use it
- وزنت چنده؟ (vaznat chande?) “How much do you weigh?”
- وزن این بسته رو بده باسکول. (vazn-e in baste ro bede bâskul.) “Put this package on the scale to check the weight.”
- وزن شعر حافظ خیلی مهمه. (vazn-e she’r-e Hâfez kheili mohemme.) “The metrical weight of Hafez’s poetry is very important.”
- از وقتی ورزش کردم وزنم کم شده. (az vaqti varzesh kardam vaznam kam shode.) “Since I started exercising, my weight has dropped.”
Cultural note
In Persian literary tradition, وزن is not merely a linguistic term but a defining feature of classical poetry. Persian prosody (عروض, ʿaruż) is a quantitative system measuring long and short syllables, and a poem without correct وزن is considered technically deficient. When Iranians say a poem “has وزن,” they are complimenting its formal correctness as much as its beauty. In modern colloquial speech, the word has narrowed mostly to the physical sense, but its dual life in science and poetry is a good example of how Arabic-origin terms adapted to Persian intellectual culture.