شہر

• (Standard Punjabi) Phonetic: śǽră IPA^(key): /ʃɛː˦ɾə̆/

شَہَر • (śahar) m (Gurmukhi spelling ਸ਼ਹਿਰ)

1. city, metropolis (urban area)

   اَسِیں شَہَر توں آئے آں۔

   asīṉ śahar toṉ ā'e āṉ.

   We've come from the city.

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002) “شہر”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat‎ (in Punjabi), Lahore: ʻAzīz Pablisharz
• Bashir, Kanwal (2012) “شہر”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Hyattsville, MD: Dunwoody Press
• “ਸ਼ਹਿਰ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2025

Borrowed from Classical Persian شَهر (šahr), from Middle Persian 𐭱𐭲𐭥𐭩 (štʿy /⁠šahr⁠/), from Proto-Iranian *xšaθram (likely through Avestan 𐬑𐬱𐬀𐬚𐬭𐬀 (xšaθra, “kingdom”)), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *kšatrám, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tek- (“to attain”). Cognate with Sanskrit क्षत्र (kṣatrá, “dominion, kingdom”), and Parthian 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓 (ḥštr /⁠xšahr⁠/). Doublet of کھاتا (khātā).

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ʃəɦɾ/, [ʃɛ.ɦɛɾ]
• (Punjabic Urdu) IPA^(key): [ʃɛːɾ]
• Rhymes: -əɾ

شَہْر • (śahr) m (Hindi spelling शहर)

1. city (urban area)
2. (loosely) town

   Synonym: نگر (nagar)

• شہری (śahrī, “citizen”)
• شہریت (śahriyat, “citizenship”)

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