ایثار

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic إِيثَار (ʔīṯār).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔiː.ˈsɑːɾ]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔiː.sɑ́ːɾ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔiː.sɑ́ːɾ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔiː.sɑ́ːɾ]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔi.sɔ́ːɾ]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔiː.sɒ́ːɹ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔi.sɔ́ɾ]

Readings
Classical reading?	īsār
Dari reading?	īsār
Iranian reading?	isâr
Tajik reading?	isor

Noun

ایثار • (isâr)

1. generosity, selflessness, altruism
   • c. 1520, Selim I of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Benedek Péri, The Persian Dīvān of Yavuz Sulṭān Selīm, Budapest, Hungary: Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, →ISBN, page 100:

     حیف کآنجا بهر جان دادن مرا خود راه نیست
     کس بسویش هم نبرد از ننگ ایثار مرا

     hayf k-ānjā bahr-i jān dādan ma-rā xwad rāh nēst
     kas ba-sōyaš ham na-burd az nang īsār-i ma-rā

     A pity that I myself have no way to offer my soul [to the beloved];
     Out of shame, nobody has taken my generous gift to her side.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “ایثار”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim