دولت

See also: دولة

Ottoman Turkish

Alternative forms

• տէվլէթ (devlet) — Armeno-Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic دَوْلَة (dawla).

Noun

دولت • (devlet) (definite accusative دولتی (devleti), plural دول (düvel))

1. change; change for the better
2. prosperity
3. government
4. state

Derived terms

• دولتجه (devletce)
• دولتلی (devletli, “prosperous”)

Descendants

• Turkish: devlet
• → Albanian: dovlet, daulet
• → Greek: δοβλέτι (dovléti), ντοβλέτι (ntovléti)
• → Romanian: devlet
• → Serbo-Croatian: dèvlet / дѐвлет

References

• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “دولت”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[1], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 926

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic دَوْلَة (dawla).

In medieval sources, it most commonly means "fortune" or "stroke of good fortune," especially associated with the ruling monarch. The word now means "state; government" due to metonymy: "the royal fortune" > "the king's dominion" > "the government of the king". Up to the nineteenth century, the ruling state was most often called دولت عالیه (dowlat-e âliyye, literally “the sublime fortune [of the king]”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [daw.ˈlat]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪äw.lǽt̪]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪äw.lǽt̪]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [d̪äw.lǽt̪]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [d̪äw.lǽt̪]

 

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪ow.lǽt̪]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪ow.lǽt̪]
  • (Tehrani) IPA^(key): [d̪oː.lǽt̪]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪äw.lǽt̪]

Readings
Classical reading?	dawlat
Dari reading?	dawlat
Iranian reading?	dowlat
Tajik reading?	davlat

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

Noun

Dari	دَوْلَت
Iranian Persian	دُوْلَت
Tajik	давлат

دُوْلَت • (dowlat) (plural دولت‌ها (dowlat-hâ) or دول (doval))

1. state, government

   کارمند دولت ― kârmand-e dowlat ― government employee

   دولت آن وقت ― dowlat-e ân vaqt ― the government at the time

   مجلس شورای اسلامی در ایران وظیفه قانون گذاری و نظارت بر دولت را دارد.

   majles-e šowrâ-ye eslâmi dar irân vazife-ye qânun-gozâri va nazârat bar dowlat râ dârad.

   The Islamic Consultative Assembly in Iran has the duties of lawmaking and supervision of the government.

2. dominion, rulership
3. (dated, literary) fortune, good fortune
   • early 1000s, ʿUnṣurī, “Panegyric 3”, in دیوان عنصری‎^[2]:

     گفتم او را چه خواهم از ایزد
     گفت عمر دراز و دولت شاب

     guftam ō rā či xwāham az ēzad
     guft umr-i darāz u dawlat-i šāb

     I said to him, "What do you desire from God?"
     He said, "A long life and the fortune of a youth!"

     (Classical romanization)

   • c. 1390, Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ, “Ghazal 392”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Ḥāfiẓ]‎^[3]:

     دانی که چیست دولت؟ دیدار یار دیدن
     در کوی او گدایی بر خسروی گزیدن

     dānī ki čē-st dawlat? dīdār-i yār dīdan
     dar kōy-i ō gadāyī bar xusrawī guzīdan

     Do you know what fortune is? To see the beloved's face,
     To prefer begging in her street to being the king of kings.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

4. (dated, literary) wealth, (monetary) fortune, prosperity

Usage notes

• In contemporary Iranian contexts, the word دولت (dowlat, “government”) refers to that section of the government presided by the رئیس‌جمهور (ra'is-jomhur, “President”) and his cabinet. The word حکومت (hokumat, “state”) refers to the entirety of the governmental apparatus under the supervision of the رهبر (rahbar, “Supreme Leader”).

• Note that this usage is quite the opposite of the respective etyma دَوْلة (dawla) and حُكُومة (ḥukūma) in contemporary Arabic.

• In contemporary Tadjikistan, the word давлат (davlat, “government, state”) is often used as a synonymous for кишвар (kišvar, “country”).

Descendants

• → Assamese: দৌলত (doulot)
• → Azerbaijani: dövlət
• → Bengali: দৌলত (dōulot)
• → Georgian: დოვლათი (dovlati)
• → Gujarati: દોલત (dolat)

  Gujarati: دولت (daulat) — Lisan ud-Dawat

• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: दौलत (daulat)

  Urdu: دَولَت (daulat)

• → Kannada: ದೌಲತ್ತು (daulattu)
• → Kazakh: дәулет (däulet)
• → Kyrgyz: дөөлөт (döölöt)
• → Maithili: daulti

  Devanagari script: दौलति

  Tirhuta script: 𑒠𑒾𑒪𑒞𑒱

• → Malayalam: ദൌലത്ത് (daulattŭ)
• → Marathi: दौलत (daulat)
• → Marwari: दौलत (daulat)
• → Nepali: दौलत (daulat)
• → Odia: ଦୌଲତ (daulata)
• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਦੌਲਤ (daulat)

  Shahmukhi script: دَولَت (daulat)

• → Sindhi:

  Arabic script: دَوْلَتَ

  Devanagari script: दौलत

• → Tamil: தௌலத்து (taulattu), தௌலத் (taulat)
• → Tatar: дәүләт (däwlät)
• → Telugu: దౌలత్తు (daulattu)
• → Turkmen: döwlet
• → Uzbek: davlat

Urdu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic دَوْلَة (dawla)bor.

Classical Persian دَولَت (dawlat)bor.

Urdu دَولَت (daulat)

Borrowed from Classical Persian دَولَت (dawlat), borrowed from Arabic دَوْلَة (dawla).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /d̪ɔː.lət̪/
• Rhymes: -ət̪
• Hyphenation: دَو‧لَت

Noun

دَولَت • (daulat) f (Hindi spelling दौलत)

1. wealth; riches; fortune
2. (by extension) power
3. prosperity, good fortune
4. (obsolete) government, state, dominion

Declension

Declension of دولت

	singular	plural
direct	دَولَت (daulat)	دَولَتیں (daulatẽ)
oblique	دَولَت (daulat)	دَولَتوں (daulatõ)
vocative	دَولَت (daulat)	دَولَتو (daulato)

Further reading

• “دولت”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “دولت”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024) “دولت”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]