What it means
زردآلو (zardâlu) means apricot. The word is a native Persian compound formed from زرد (zard), meaning yellow, and آلو (âlu), meaning plum, so it literally translates as yellow-plum. Both components belong to the ancient Iranian vocabulary of the language, making this an entirely home-grown compound with no foreign borrowing involved. There is no common short synonym in standard spoken Persian: zardâlu is the word everyone uses. Dried apricots are often called زردآلوی خشک (zardâlu-ye khoshk) or simply قیسی (gheisi) in colloquial speech, a regional variant common in bazaar contexts.
How to use it
- زردآلو تازه داری؟ (zardâlu-ye tâze dâri?) “Do you have fresh apricots?”
- مربای زردآلو خیلی خوشمزهست. (morabbây-e zardâlu kheyli khoshmazeh-ast.) “Apricot jam is really delicious.”
- زردآلوها رسیدهن، بچینشون. (zardâluhâ reside-n, bechineshun.) “The apricots are ripe, pick them.”
- یه کیلو زردآلوی خشک میخوام. (ye kilo zardâlu-ye khoshk mikhâm.) “I want a kilo of dried apricots.”
Cultural note
Iran, especially the regions of Khorasan, East Azerbaijan, and the Alborz foothills, has cultivated apricots for centuries, and the fruit appears extensively in Iranian cuisine both fresh and dried. Dried zardâlu is a fixture on the haft-sin table at Nowruz and is served as part of the ajil dry-fruit-and-nut mix eaten during celebrations and winter evenings. Apricot jam, morabbây-e zardâlu, is one of the most common homemade preserves in Iranian kitchens, often prepared in large batches at the peak of the summer harvest and stored for the colder months.