خودخواهی
“خودخواهی” (khâdkhâhi) — selfishness in Persian. Noun, level B1, topic — people and family. Literally "self-willing", from the self: to want only for oneself. Take the word apart — and the reproach "you are so selfish" becomes clear without a dictionary. Selfishness destroys friendship, says the example. In a live sentence: “خودخواهی دوستی را خراب میکند.” — Selfishness destroys friendship. Written with the characters خ, و, د, خ, و, ا, ه, ی.
In short
| Written in Persian | خودخواهی |
| Read in Latin letters | khâdkhâhi |
| Translation | selfishness |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | B1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "self-willing", from the self: to want only for oneself. Take the word apart — and the reproach "you are so selfish" becomes clear without a dictionary. Selfishness destroys friendship, says the example
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- خودخواهی دوستی را خراب میکند.khâdkhâhi dusti râ khârâb mi-kânad.Selfishness destroys friendship.
Nearby words: people and family
Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.
- خانوادهkhânevâdefamilyThe family as the household. The family name on forms is naam-e khanevadegi — the family-surname
- پدرpadarfatherFather — pa-dar, and the same ancient syllables ring in "pater" of Europe. Pedarbozorg is the grandfather
- مادرmâdarmotherMother — ma-dar, cousin of "mother" itself. Madarbozorg is the grandmother
- بچهbâchechildA child, and an affectionate "kid" for adults too: bache-ha, the kids. Bache-gane — childishly
- دوستdustfriendFriend — and the root of liking someone: dust dashtan, to hold as a friend. Dust-e man az Shiraz ast
- فروشندهfârushândesellerForush sale + the -ande of the doer: a selling one. Forooshgah, the shop, is its place
- مشتریmâshtaricustomerThe one who shops — from the root of "a user". The polite address to any stranger at the counter
- آدمâdâmpersonThe human being of the old stories — Adam. U aadam-e khoobi ast: he is a good person
- مردmardmanA man — mard, the same syllable as in mardomi, popular. Mard kar mikonad: the man works
- زنzanwomanWoman — zan, short and old. Zan-e man, my wife; zan-zadegi, feminism, built on it
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “people and family”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “selfishness” in Persian?
Literally "self-willing", from the self: to want only for oneself. Take the word apart — and the reproach "you are so selfish" becomes clear without a dictionary. Selfishness destroys friendship, says the example
- How do you say “customer” in Persian?
The one who shops — from the root of "a user". The polite address to any stranger at the counter
- How do you say “mother” in Persian?
Mother — ma-dar, cousin of "mother" itself. Madarbozorg is the grandmother
- How do you say “woman” in Persian?
Woman — zan, short and old. Zan-e man, my wife; zan-zadegi, feminism, built on it
- How do you say “seller” in Persian?
Forush sale + the -ande of the doer: a selling one. Forooshgah, the shop, is its place
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “selfishness” in Persian?
«خودخواهی», read “khâdkhâhi”. In a live sentence: “خودخواهی دوستی را خراب میکند.” — Selfishness destroys friendship. Noun, level B1, from the set “people and family”; written with the characters خ, و, د, خ, و, ا, ه, ی.
How is “خودخواهی” written in Latin letters?
khâdkhâhi. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally "self-willing", from the self: to want only for oneself. Take the word apart — and the reproach "you are so selfish" becomes clear without a dictionary. Selfishness destroys friendship, says the example. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.