What it means
زندان (zendân) means prison or jail. Unlike many Persian legal terms that come from Arabic, this one is genuinely Persian, tracing back to Middle Persian origins related to the idea of confinement and chains. It is the standard, neutral word for a prison facility. You use it whether you are writing a news article, speaking colloquially, or reading a legal code. The formal Arabic-origin term for the act of imprisonment is حبس (habs), but for the physical place itself, zendân is what Iranians say. A common compound is زندانی (zendâni), meaning a prisoner or inmate, and رفتن به زندان (raftan be zendân), to go to prison, is one of the most natural verb phrases in this cluster.
How to use it
- سه سال توی زندان بود. (se sâl tu-ye zendân bud.) “He was in prison for three years.”
- زندان اوین تهرونه. (zendân-e Evin Tehruneh.) “Evin Prison is in Tehran.”
- یه نفر از زندان فرار کرد. (ye nafar az zendân farâr kard.) “Someone escaped from prison.”
- زندانی سیاسی رو آزاد کردن. (zendâni-ye siyâsi ro âzâd kardan.) “They released the political prisoner.”
Cultural note
زندان اوین (zendân-e Evin), Evin Prison in northern Tehran, is one of the most internationally recognised prison names in the Persian-speaking world, known for holding political detainees and journalists. For Iranians inside and outside the country, the word zendân carries significant political weight that goes beyond its dictionary definition. The term زندانی سیاسی (zendâni-ye siyâsi, political prisoner) is a phrase that appears regularly in international human rights discussions involving Iran, and any Farsi learner engaging with news about Iran will encounter it constantly.