نیکو

Persian

Etymology

Alternative form of نیک (nik, “good, excellent, nice”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [neː.ˈkuː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [neː.kʰúː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [neː.kʰúː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [neː.kʰúː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [nu.kʰú]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [niː.kʰúː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ne.kʰú]

Readings
Classical reading?	nēkū
Dari reading?	nēkū
Iranian reading?	niku
Tajik reading?	neku

Adjective

Dari	نیکو
Iranian Persian
Tajik	неку

نیکو • (niku) (comparative نیکوتَر (niku-tar), superlative نیکوتَرین (niku-tarin))

1. good, excellent, nice, fair
   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume I, verse 3551:

     این نباشد ما چه ارزیم ای جوان
     کی شویم آیین روی نیکوان

     īn nabāšad mā čī arzīm ay jawān
     kay šawīm āyīn-i-rōy-i-nēkū-wān

     If this do not happen, what worth have we, O young man?
     How shall we become a standard for the face of the fair?’

References

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