خون‌بها

Persian

Etymology

From خون (xun, “blood”) +‎ بها (bahâ, “price”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [xuːn.ba.ˈhɑː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [xuːm.bä.ɦɑ́ː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [xuːm.bä.ɦɑ́ː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [xuːm.bɑːɑ́ː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [xum.bɔːɔ́ː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [xuːm.bæ.ɦɒ́ː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [χum.bä.ɦɔ́]

Readings
Classical reading?	xūnbahā
Dari reading?	xūnbahā
Iranian reading?	xunbahâ
Tajik reading?	xunbaho

Noun

خون‌بها • (xun-bahâ)

1. price of a person's life; (specifically) blood money, wergeld (monetary compensation to the family of a murder victim)
   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume I, verse 192:

     اسب تازی برنشست و شاد تاخت
     خونبهای خویش را خلعت شناخت

     asb-i tāzī barnišast u šād tāxt
     xūnbahā-yi xwēš rā xal'at šināxt

     He mounted an Arab horse and sped on joyously: [what was really] the price of his blood, he deemed a robe of honour.