تعبیر

Persian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic عَبَّر (ʕabbar)

Arabic تَعْبِير (taʕbīr)bor.

Persian تَعْبِیر

Borrowed from Arabic تَعْبِير (taʕbīr).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [taʔ.ˈbiːɾ]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰäʔ.bíːɾ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰäʔ.bíːɾ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰɑː.bíːɾ]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰɔː.bíɾ]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰæʔ.bíːɹ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰäʔ.bíɾ]

Readings
Classical reading?	ta'bīr
Dari reading?	ta'bīr
Iranian reading?	ta'bir
Tajik reading?	taʾbir

Noun

تعبیر • (ta'bir)

1. expression
2. interpretation

   سوء تعبیر ― su'-e ta'bir ― misinterpretation

Descendants

• → Hindustani:
  • Hindi: ताबीर (tābīr)
  • Urdu: تَعْبِیر (ta'bīr)
• → Punjabi: ਤਾਬੀਰ (tābīr), تَعْبِیر (taʻbīr)

Further reading

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

Urdu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic عَبَّر (ʕabbar)

Arabic تَعْبِير (taʕbīr)bor.

Classical Persian تَعْبِیر (ta'bīr)bor.

Urdu تَعْبِیر (ta'bīr)

Borrowed from Classical Persian تَعْبِیر (ta'bīr), borrowed from Arabic تَعْبِير (taʕbīr), from عَبَّر (ʕabbar). First attested in c. 1609 as Middle Hindi تعبیر (t'byr /⁠ta'bīr⁠/).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /t̪əʔ.biːɾ/, [t̪ɑː.biːɾ]
• Rhymes: -iːɾ
• Hyphenation: تَعْ‧بِیر

Noun

تَعْبِیر • (ta'bīr) f (formal plural تَعْبِیرَات (ta'bīrāt), Hindi spelling ताबीर)

1. interpretation, elucidation (of a dream)
2. explanation; putting a new construction (on words)

Declension

Declension of تعبیر

	singular	plural
direct	تَعْبِیر (ta'bīr)	تَعْبِیریں (ta'bīrẽ)
oblique	تَعْبِیر (ta'bīr)	تَعْبِیروں (ta'bīrõ)
vocative	تَعْبِیر (ta'bīr)	تَعْبِیرو (ta'bīro)

Further reading

• “تعبیر”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024) “تعبیر”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]