سیاهی لشکر

Persian

Etymology 1

From سیاهی لشکر (siyâhi-ye laškar, “large military host; multitude of troops”).

Pronunciation

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [si.jɒː.ɦíː.læʃ.kʰʲǽɹ]

Readings
Iranian reading?	siyâhilaškar

Noun

سیاهی لشکر • (siyâhi laškar)

1. (cinematography) extra, background actor

   فیلم‌هایی که بیشترین سیاهی لشکر را داشتند

   filmhâyi ke bištarin siyâhi laškar râ dâštand

   the films which featured the most extras

Etymology 2

Literally, “blackness of the army”: such a large army that it appears as a mass of blackness.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [si.jɑː.ˈhiː.ji laʃ.ˈkaɾ]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [si.jɑː.ɦí.jɪ läʃ.kʰǽɾ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [si.jɑː.ɦí.jɪ läʃ.kʰǽɾ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [si.jɑː.jí.jɪ läʃ.kʰǽɾ]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [si.jɔː.jí.ji läʃ.kʰǽɾ]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [si.jɒː.ɦí.je læʃ.kʰʲǽɹ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [si.jɔ.ɦí.ji läʃ.kʰǽɾ]

Readings
Classical reading?	siyāhī-yi laškar
Dari reading?	siyāhī-yi laškar
Iranian reading?	siyâhi-ye laškar
Tajik reading?	siyohi-yi laškar

Noun

سیاهی لشکر • (siyâhi-ye laškar)

1. (obsolete) multitude of soldiers; enormous army
   • 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 75:

     اینک بغمزه صف‌زده مژگان کافرش
     در دیده‌ها نمود سیاهی لشکرش

     īnak ba-ğamza-yi saf-zada mužagān-i kāfar-aš
     dar dīda-hā namūd siyāhī-yi laškar-aš

     Behold how her infidel eyelashes, with amorous winks arranged in ranks,
     Display in her eyes her multitude of warriors.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

Further reading

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