شکار

Persian

Alternative forms

شکال (šekâl) (dialectal, Kazerun)

Etymology

Not attested in Middle Persian, though related forms are Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (šklk /⁠škarag⁠/, “bird of prey”), [Book Pahlavi needed] (wškl /⁠wiškar⁠/, “hunting ground”).

Perhaps a loanword from Sogdian 𐽁𐼸𐼰𐽀 (škʾr, “to pursue, to drive”).^[1] Both the Middle Persian and the Sogdian are from Proto-Iranian *skar- (“to pursue, to look for (cattle)”), which has no non-Iranian cognates.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ʃi.ˈkaːɾ/

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃɪ.kʰɑ́ːɾ]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʃɪ.kʰɑ́ːɾ]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʃi.kʰɔ́ːɾ]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃe.kʰɒ́ːɹ]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃi.kʰɔ́ɾ]

Readings
Classical reading^?	šikār
Dari reading^?	šikār
Iranian reading^?	šekâr
Tajik reading^?	šikor

Noun


Iranian Persian	شکار
Dari	شکار
Tajik	шикор

شکار • (šekâr) (plural شکارها (šekâr-hâ))

hunt, hunting
Synonyms: نخچیر (naxčir), صید (seyd)
game, prey
- c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume II, verse 1310:
  ما شکاریم این چنین دامی کراست
  گوی چوگانیم چوگانی کجاست
  mā šikar-īm īn čunīn dām-ē kirā-st
  gōy-i čawgān-īm čawganī kujā-st
  We are the (hunted) prey: to whom belongs such a (fearful) snare?
  We are the ball (for the blows) of the polo-bat—and where is the Batsman?

Derived terms

شکار کردن (šekâr kardan, “to hunt”)
شکارچی (šekârči, “hunter”)

Descendants

→ Azerbaijani: şikar
→ Hindustani:
Urdu: شکار (śikār)

Hindi: शिकार (śikār)
→ Northern Kurdish: şikar
→ Punjabi:
Gurmukhi script: ਸ਼ਿਕਾਰ (śikār)

Shahmukhi script: شکار (śikār)
→ Turkish: şikar

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Cheung, Johnny (2007) “skar”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 2), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 345

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian (šikār).

Pronunciation

(Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ʃɪ.kɑːɾ/
Rhymes: -ɑːɾ
Hyphenation: شِ‧کار

Noun

شِکار • (śikār) m (Hindi spelling शिकार)

hunt
prey, catch; victim
Synonym: نخچیر (naxcīr)

Declension

Declension of **شکار**
	singular	plural
direct	شکار (šikār)	شکار (šikār)
oblique	شکار (šikār)	شکاروں (šikārõ)
vocative	شکار (šikār)	شکارو (šikāro)

Derived terms

شکاری (śikārī, “hunter”)
شِکار گاہ (śikār-gāh, “hunting ground”)
شکارِ ماہی (śikār-e-māhī, “fishing”)
شِکار پیشَہ (śikār-peśa, “professional hunter”)
شِکارِ جَرْگَہ (śikār-e-jarga)

References

“شکار”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “شکار”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
Platts, John T. (1884) “شکار”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
“شکار”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.

[Cheung-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Cheung, Johnny (2007) “skar”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 2), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 345

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