محک

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مِحَكّ (miḥakk, “touchstone”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [mi.hakk]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [me̞.ɦäk(ː)]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [me̞.ɦäk(ː)]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [mi.jäk(ː)]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [mi.jäk(ː)]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [me.ɦækʲ(ː)]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [mi.ɦäk(ː)]

Readings
Classical reading?	mihakk
Dari reading?	mehakk
Iranian reading?	mehakk
Tajik reading?	mehakk

Noun

Dari	محک
Iranian Persian
Tajik	миҳак

محک • (mehakk)

1. touchstone
   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume II, verse 747:

     یا محک باید میان جان خویش
     ور ندانی ره مرو تنها تو پیش

     yā mihakk bāyad miyān-i jān-i xwēš
     war na-dānī rah ma-raw tanhā tū pēš

     Either you must have a touchstone within your own soul,
     or if you know not the Way, do not go forward alone.

2. test, criterion

References

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “محك”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim