سپاه

Persian

Alternative forms

اسپاه (espâh), اسپه (espah), سپه (sepah)

Etymology

From Middle Persian spʾh / 𐭮𐭯𐭠𐭧 (spāh), borrowed from Northwestern Iranian, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćwáHdʰaH, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwéh₁-dʰ-o-h₁ (dual), from *ḱweh₁-, *ḱewh₁- (“to swell, be great”). Possible cognate with Avestan 𐬯𐬏𐬌𐬛𐬌𐬌𐬁𐬌 (sūidiiāi, “to swell, increase”, inf.), Bactrian σοδο (sodo /⁠sūdo⁠/, “plenty”), Middle Persian [script needed] (swd /⁠sūd⁠/), [script needed] (swwd /⁠sūd⁠/, “profit, advantage”), Sanskrit शवस् (śavas, “strength, superiority”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /si.ˈpaːh/

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [sɪ.pʰɑ́ːʱ]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [sɪ.pʰɑ́ː]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [si.pʰɔ́ː]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [se.pʰɒ́ːʰ]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [si.pʰɔ́ʱ]

Readings
Classical reading^?	sipāh
Dari reading^?	sipāh
Iranian reading^?	sepâh
Tajik reading^?	sipoh

Noun


Iranian Persian	سپاه
Dari	سپاه
Tajik	сипоҳ

سپاه • (sepâh) (plural سپاه‌ها)

army
Synonyms: لشکر (laškar), ارتش (arteš), (Dari) اردو (urdū)
(Iran) short for (sepâh-e pâsdârân-e enqelâb-e eslâmi, “Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps”)

Derived terms

سپاهی (sepâhi)
سپهبد (sepahbod)

Descendants

→ Urdu: سپاہ (sipāh)

References

Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892) “سپاه”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul
Perixanjan, A. G. (1993) Материалы к этимологическому словарю древнеармянского языка. Часть I [Materials for the Etymological Dictionary of the Old Armenian Language. Part 1]‎^[1] (in Russian), Yerevan: Academy Press, page 18