چون

See also: جون, جوں, and خون

Persian

Alternative forms

چو (čo) (poetic)

Etymology

From Middle Persian [script needed] (cygwn' /⁠čiyōn⁠/, “as, like, how, when”), from Proto-Iranian *či-gauna- (“shape, figure”), from *či- (“what”) +‎ *gauna- (“color, type”). Synchronically analyzable as (če, “what”) +‎ (gun, “color, type”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃuːn/

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃʰuːn]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃʰuːn]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃʰun]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃʰon], [t͡ʃʰuːn]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃʰun]

Readings
Classical reading^?	čūn
Dari reading^?	čūn
Iranian reading^?	čon, čun
Tajik reading^?	čun

In Iran, [t͡ʃʰuːn] is mainly reserved for literary contexts except in the idiom (čun o čerâ).

Conjunction

چون • (čun)

because, since
Synonyms: چونکه (čunke), زیرا (zirâ)

čun havâ xeyli sard bud nay-âmadand.
They did not come since it was very cold.
when
Synonyms: وقتی (vaqti), وقتی که (vaqti ke)
- c. 1080, Kaykāwūs, Qābūs-nāma:
  چون بزه خواهی کرد باری بزه بی‌مزه مکن ، شراب که خوری خوشتر خور و سماع که شنوی خوشتر شنو.
  čūn baza xwāhī kard bārē baza-yi bē-maza makun, šarāb ki xwarī xwaštar xwar u samā' ki šinawī xwaštar šinaw.
  When you want to commit sin for a time, do not commit tasteless sin. When you drink wine, drink from the best! And when you listen to music, listen to the best!
  (Classical Persian transliteration)
(poetic or archaic) how
Synonyms: چطور (četowr), چگونه (čegune)

― čuni? ― How are you?
- c. 1580, Vahshī Bāfqī, “شرح پریشانی”, in گزیده اشعار [Selected Poems]‎^[1]:
  تو مپندار که مِهر از دلِ محزون نرود
  آتشِ عشق به جان افتد و بیرون نرود
  وین محبّت به صد افسانه و افسون نرود
  چه گمان غلط است این، برود، چون نرود؟
  tū ma-pindār ki mihr az dil-i mahzūn na-rawad
  ātaš-i išq ba jān uftad u bērūn na-rawad
  w-īn muhabbat ba sad afsāna u afsūn na-rawad
  či gamān-i ġalat ast īn, bi-rawad, čūn na-rawad?
  Don't think that affection can't leave a forlorn heart,
  That the fire of love falls on the soul and never leaves,
  That this love won't leave after a hundred fables and empty spells:
  What a mistake of a thought! [Love] leaves, how could it not?
  (Classical Persian transliteration)

Preposition

چون • (čun)

(poetic or archaic) like
Synonyms: همچون (hamčon), مثل (mesl-e), مانند (mânand-e), همانند (hamânand-e), نظیر (nazir-e)

References

MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) “čiyōn”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 23
Rastorgujeva, V. S., Edelʹman, D. I. (2003) Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume 2, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, page 201

Anagrams

نوچ

Urdu

Numeral

**Urdu numbers ^(edit)**
← 53	۵۴ 54	55 →
Cardinal: چَوَّنْ (cavvan), چَون (cauvan) Ordinal: چَوَّنْواں (cavvanvā̃), چَونْواں (cauvanvā̃)

چون • (cauvan, cavvan) (Hindi spelling चौवन or चव्वन)

fifty-four