مردم

Pashto

Noun

مردم • (mardúm) m

1. people, the world, mankind, humanity

Persian

Etymology

From Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (mltwm' /⁠mardōm⁠/, “mankind, people”), from Proto-Iranian *mártyah (“man”) + *táwxma (“family, seed”). Equivalent to Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (mlt' /⁠mard⁠/, “man”, modern مرد (mard)) + Middle Persian 𐫤𐫇𐫍𐫖 (twhm /⁠tōhm⁠/, “family, seed”, modern تخم (toxm)): "the seed of man". Cognate to Sogdian [script needed] (mrtxm’y /⁠martoxmē, martəxmē⁠/, “people, man”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [maɾ.ˈdum]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäɾ.d̪ʊ́m]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäɾ.d̪ʊ́m]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [mäɾ.d̪ʊ́m]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [mäɾ.d̪úm]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [mæɹ.d̪óm]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [mäɾ.d̪úm]

Readings
Classical reading?	mardum
Dari reading?	mardum
Iranian reading?	mardom
Tajik reading?	mardum

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

Noun

Dari	مردم
Iranian Persian
Tajik	мардум

مَرْدُم • (mardom) (plural مردمان (mardomân))

1. people (group of humans)

   مردم کشور ― mardom-e kešvar ― the people of the country

2. people (nation)

   مردمان ترک ― mardomân-e tork ― Turkic peoples

3. (literary) human

   Synonyms: آدم (âdam), انسان (ensân)

   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume I, verse 360:

     دور دور عیسی است ای مردمان
     بشنوید اسرار کیش او به جان

     dawr dawr-i īsā ast ay mardumān
     bešnawēd asrār-i kēš-i ō dar jān

     The epoch is the epoch of Jesus. O men,
     Hearken with your souls unto the mysteries of his religion!

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

4. (literary) Synonym of مردمک (mardomak, “pupil (of the eye)”).
   • c. 1390, Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ, “Ghazal 330”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Ḥāfiẓ]‎^[1]:

     غلام مردم چشمم که با سیاه دلی
     هزار قطره ببارد چو درد دل شمرم

     ğulām-i mardum-i čašmam ki bā siyāh dilī
     hazār qatra bibārad čū dard-i dil šimuram

     I am a slave to the pupil of my eye, which malevolently
     Rains down a thousand teardrops when I count the pains of my heart.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

Usage notes

• Identical to English people, مردم has a plural sense on its own. The plural مردمان is used in the sense of "people" as "nation", or for the literary sense of "one human"; in this latter case مردمان and مردم are identical in meaning.
• مردم usually takes the third-person plural form of the verb.

Related terms

• مردمی (mardomi)
• مردم‌دار (mardom-dâr)
• مردم‌دوست (mardom-dust)
• مردم‌دوستی (mardom-dusti)
• مردم‌شناس (mardom-šenâs)
• مردم‌فریب (mardom-farib)
• مردم‌شناسی (mardom-šenâsi)
• مردم‌سالاری (mardom-sâlâri)
• مردم‌آزاری (mardom-âzâri)
• مردم‌زاده (mardom-zādeh)

References

1. Kazzazi, Mir Jalaleddin, Nāme-ye Bāstān (The Ancient Book): The Interpretation of Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, Vol. I, ed. 2, 2013.
2. Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–) “مردم”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press

• Edelʹman, D. I. (2015) Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume 5, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, page 214