تعریف

See also: تعريف and تعريق

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic تَعْرِيف (taʕrīf), from عَرَّفَ (ʕarrafa).

Pronunciation

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

 

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

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

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

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

Readings
Classical reading?	ta'rīf
Dari reading?	ta'rīf
Iranian reading?	ta'rif
Tajik reading?	taʾrif

Noun

تعریف • (ta'rif) (plural تعریف‌ها (ta'rif-hâ) or تعاریف (ta'ârif))

1. definition
2. description, explanation, narration
3. praise, commendation

   تعریف از خود ― ta'rif az xod ― self-praise

4. making something known
   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume II, verse 290—291:

     دشمن روزند این قلابکان
     عاشق روزند آن زرهای کان
     ز آن که روز است آینه‌ی تعریف او

     dušman-i rōz-and īn qallābakān
     âšiq-e rōz-and ān zar-hā-yi kān
     z-ān-ki rōz ast āyina-yi ta'rīf-i ō

     These counterfeiters are the enemies of the day,
     And those pieces of gold are the lovers of day,
     Because the day is the mirror that makes it [the purity of gold] known.

Derived terms

• تعریف کردن (ta'rif kardan, “to define, to describe, to praise”)

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: tərif
• → Bengali: তারিফ (tariph)
• → Gujarati: તારીફ (tārīph)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: तारीफ़ (tārīf)

  Urdu: تَعْرِیف (ta'rīf)

• → Kannada: ತಾರೀಫು (tārīphu), ತಾರೀಪು (tārīpu)
• → Marathi: तारीफ (tārīph)
• → Ottoman Turkish: تعریف
  • Turkish: tarif
• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਤਾਰੀਫ਼ (tārīf)

  Shahmukhi script: تَعْرِیف (taʻrīf)

• → Uzbek: taʼrif
• → Uyghur: تەرىپ (terip)

Punjabi

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic عَرَّفَ (ʕarrafa)

Arabic تَعْرِيف (taʕrīf)bor.

Classical Persian تَعْرِیف (ta'rīf)bor.

Urdu تَعْرِیف (ta'rīf)

Borrowed from Classical Persian تَعْرِیف (ta'rīf), borrowed from Arabic تَعْرِيف (taʕrīf), from عَرَّفَ (ʕarrafa).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /täː.ɾiːf/
  • (colloquial) IPA^(key): [tə̆˩˥.ɾiːfᵊ]

Noun

تَعْرِیف • (taʻrīf) f (Gurmukhi spelling ਤਾਰੀਫ਼)

1. praise
2. admiration, commendation
3. appraisal
4. familiarity, acquaintance
5. detail

Declension

Declension of تعریف

	singular	plural
direct	تَعْرِیف (taʻrīf)	تَعْرِیفاں (taʻrīfāṉ)
oblique	تَعْرِیف (taʻrīf)	تَعْرِیفاں (taʻrīfāṉ)
vocative	تَعْرِیفے (taʻrīfe)	تَعْرِیفو (taʻrīfo)
ablative	تَعْرِیفوں (taʻrīfoṉ)	تَعْرِیفاں (taʻrīfāṉ)
locative	تَعْرِیفی (taʻrīfī)	تَعْرِیفِیں (taʻrīfīṉ)
instrumental	تَعْرِیفِیں (taʻrīfīṉ)	تَعْرِیفے (taʻrīfe)

Further reading

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002) “تعریف”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat‎ (in Punjabi), Lahore: ʻAzīz Pablisharz
• “ਤਾਰੀਫ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2025

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian تَعْرِیف (ta'rīf), borrowed from Arabic تَعْرِيف (taʕrīf), from عَرَّفَ (ʕarrafa).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /t̪ɑː.ɾiːf/

Noun

تَعْرِیف • (ta'rīf) f (Hindi spelling तारीफ़)

1. definition, description
2. praise, commendation, laudation, admiration
3. a table of rates of export and import duties