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”). Both the Middle Persian and the Sogdian are from Proto-Iranian *skar- (“to pursue, to look for (cattle)”), which has no non-Iranian cognates.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʃi.ˈkɑːɾ]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃɪ.kʰɑ́ːɾ]

• (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

Dari	شکار
Iranian Persian
Tajik	шикор

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

1. hunt, hunting

   Synonyms: نخچیر (naxčir), صید (seyd)

2. 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

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian شکار (šikār).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

شِکار • (śikār) m (Hindi spelling शिकार)

1. hunt
2. 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, 2024.