خواب

From Middle Persian 𐭧𐭥𐭠𐭡 (hwʾb /⁠xwāb⁠/), from Proto-Iranian *hwápati, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *swap-, from Proto-Indo-European *swep- (“to dream”).^[1] Compare Sanskrit स्वप्न (svapna), Northern Kurdish xew, xewn, Russian спать (spatʹ), and Ancient Greek ὕπνος (húpnos, “sleep”), whence hypnosis.

خواب • (xwāb / xâb)

1. sleep
   • c. 1390, Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ, “Ghazal 26”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Ḥāfiẓ]‎^[1]:

     سر فرا گوش من آورد، به آواز حزین
     گفت: ای عاشق دیرینه من خوابت هست؟

     sar farâ gôš-i man âward ba âwâz-i hazîn
     guft ay âšiq-i dêrîna-yi man xwâb-at hast?

     He brought his head close to my ear and, in a plaintive voice,
     Said, "Hey, old-time lover of mine, are you asleep [lit. is sleep upon you]?"

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

   • c. 1390, Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ, “Ghazal 464”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Ḥāfiẓ]‎^[2]:

     چون من خیال رویت جانا به خواب بینم
     کز خواب می‌نبیند چشمم به جز خیالی

     čôn man xayâl-i rôy-at jân-â ba xwâb bênam
     k-az xwâb mê-na-bênad čašm-am ba juz xayâlê

     My love, how can I glimpse your face in dreams
     When my eyes cannot get but a single glimpse of sleep?

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

   • c. 1720, 'Abd al-Qādir Bēdil, دیوان بیدل [The Divān of Bēdil]:

     بیداری میان دو خواب است هستیم
     گرد تخیل دو سراب است هستیم

     bîdârî-yi miyân-i dô xwâb ast hastêm
     gard-i taxayyul-i dô sarâb ast hastêm

     There is wakefulness between two slumbers; that is us;
     There is the dust of fancies between two mirages; that is us.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

2. dream

   Synonym: رؤیا (ru'yā / ro'yâ)

   • c. 930, Rōdakī, دیوان رودکی [The Divān of Rōdakī]:

     این جهان پاک خواب کردار است
     آن شناسد که دلش بیدار است

     în jahân pâk xwâb kirdâr ast
     ân šinâsad ki dil-aš bidâr ast

     This world acts wholly like a dream;
     He whose heart is awake shall realize it.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

   • c. 1185, Shihāb al-Dīn Suhrawardī, پرتونامه [The Book of Illumination]:

     رئیس طبیعی شود عالم را، و او را از عالم اعلا نصرت رسد و سخن او در عالم علوی مسموع باشد، و خواب و الهام او به کمال رسد.

     ra'îs-i tabî'î šawad âlim râ, u ô râ az âlim-i a'lâ nusrat rasad o suxan-i ô dar âlim-i ulwî masmû' bâšad, u xwâb u ilhâm-i ô ba kamâl rasad.

     He shall become the natural ruler of the world; succor shall come to him from the sublime world, and his word shall be obeyed in the celestial world; his dreams and inspirations shall reach perfection.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

   • c. 1390, Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ, “Ghazal 464”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Ḥāfiẓ]‎^[3]:

     چون من خیال رویت جانا به خواب بینم
     کز خواب می‌نبیند چشمم به جز خیالی

     čôn man xayâl-i rôy-at jân-â ba xwâb bênam
     k-az xwâb mê-na-bênad čašm-am ba juz xayâlê

     My love, how can I glimpse your face in dreams
     When my eyes cannot get but a single glimpse of sleep?

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

• → Bengali: খোয়াব (khwab), খোওয়াব (khowab), খ্বাব (khwab)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: ख़्वाब (xvāb), ख़ाब (xāb), खाब (khāb)

  Urdu: خواب (xvāb, xāb, khāb)

• → Sylheti: ꠈꠥꠀꠛ (kúab), ꠈꠣꠛ (xáb)

خواب • (xwāb / xâb)

1. asleep

• Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–) “خواب”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press
• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “خواب”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim

Borrowed from Classical Persian خْوَاب (xwāb).

• IPA^(key): [xʊvaːbʊ]

head=خُوابُ

خواب • (xuvābu) m (Devanagari ख़ुवाबु)

1. dream

• “خواب”, in Sindhi-English Dictionary, University of Chicago: Center for Language Engineering, Pakistan, 1866–1938

Borrowed from Classical Persian خْوَاب (xwāb), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *swap-, from Proto-Indo-European *swep- (“to dream”). Doublet of سپنا (sapnā).

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /xʷɑːb/, [xɑːb]
• Rhymes: -ɑːb

خْوَاب • (xvāb) m (Hindi spelling ख़्वाब)

1. dream

   Synonyms: سپنا (sapnā), رؤیا (rū'yā)

2. sleep
3. vision, illusion
4. (figuratively) good news, glad tidings

• “خواب”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “خواب”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “خواب”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.