What it means
زندانی (zendâni) means prisoner or, as an adjective, imprisoned. The base is زندان (zendân), the Persian word for prison, which is pure Persian in origin. Adding the suffix -ی (-i) to a place or institution name to create a person associated with it is a standard Persian pattern: زندان (prison) gives زندانی (prisoner), the same way روستا (village) gives روستایی (villager). زندانی can be used as a noun (آن زندانی، the prisoner) or as a predicate adjective (زندانی بودن، to be imprisoned). The compound verb زندانی کردن means to imprison or to jail someone, and زندانی شدن means to be imprisoned or to end up in jail.
How to use it
- سه تا زندانی فرار کردن (se tâ zendâni farâr kardan) “Three prisoners escaped.”
- اونو زندانی کردن (uno zendâni kardan) “They imprisoned him.”
- چند سال زندانی بود (chand sâl zendâni bud) “He was imprisoned for several years.”
- زندانی سیاسی آزاد بشه (zendâni-ye siyâsi âzâd beshe) “The political prisoner should be freed.”
Cultural note
The phrase زندانی سیاسی (zendâni-ye siyâsi, political prisoner) has carried heavy weight in Iranian public discourse across decades. Human rights organizations, exiled Iranians, and international press regularly use this compound when discussing detention of journalists, activists, and dissidents. The word زندانی itself thus carries a layer of gravity beyond its bare legal meaning: saying someone is زندانی often implies the question of why, and in Iranian social conversation that why can be politically loaded.
References
ZabanYar is a Persian app built for heritage learners, the people who can speak a little but want to read, write, and really get it. Free early access at launch.
Join the waitlist →