საზამთრო
“საზამთრო” (sazamtro) — watermelon in Georgian. Noun, level A2, topic — food and drink. Literally 'of winter' — from zamtari, winter: watermelons were stored until winter. The melon is nesvi, and at the market the two are named as a pair: sazamtro da nesvi. In a live sentence: “ბაზარში დიდი საზამთრო ვიყიდე” — At the market I bought a big watermelon. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ს, ა, ზ, ა, მ, თ, რ, ო.
In short
| Written in Georgian | საზამთრო |
| Read in Latin letters | sazamtro |
| Translation | watermelon |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- საზამთროsazamtrowatermelon
Why it looks that way
Literally 'of winter' — from zamtari, winter: watermelons were stored until winter. The melon is nesvi, and at the market the two are named as a pair: sazamtro da nesvi
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.
- ბაზარში დიდი საზამთრო ვიყიდეbazarshi didi sazamtro viqideAt the market I bought a big watermelon
Nearby words: food and drink
A menu, a market, a shop sign, the question “what is this?”. Food is the most frequent subject of the first weeks and the safest excuse to start talking.
- ყავაqavacoffeeThe opening q is a deep guttural sound from the very bottom of the throat — nothing in English stands this far back
- ჩაიchaiteaThe word traveled half the world almost unchanged. Tea is poured into a chika (glass), coffee into a pinjani (cup)
- წყალიtsqaliwaterTwo hard sounds in a row: the sharp ejective ts and the deep throaty q. A real tongue workout
- პურიpuribreadGeorgian bread bakes in a round clay oven, a tone — hence shotis puri, the boat-shaped loaf
- ყველიqvelicheeseThat deep throaty q again at the start. Sulguni and the Imeretian kind are the two cheeses to know
- ხორციkhortsimeatMenus usually list its kinds: beef, pork, chicken — each named as 'of the animal'
- თევზიtevzifishHence metevzi, fisherman: the me- prefix turns a thing into a trade, as in mebaghe, gardener
- სალათიsalatisaladA borrowing with the obligatory -i. On menus it is most often kartuli salati — tomatoes with walnuts
- სუპიsupisoupA borrowing. The native neighbor is tsvniani, from tsveni — juice, broth
- მარილიmarilisaltHence mariliani, salty — the -iani tail means 'with something'
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “food and drink”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “watermelon” in Georgian?
Literally 'of winter' — from zamtari, winter: watermelons were stored until winter. The melon is nesvi, and at the market the two are named as a pair: sazamtro da nesvi
- How do you say “fish” in Georgian?
Hence metevzi, fisherman: the me- prefix turns a thing into a trade, as in mebaghe, gardener
- How do you say “water” in Georgian?
Two hard sounds in a row: the sharp ejective ts and the deep throaty q. A real tongue workout
- How do you say “salt” in Georgian?
Hence mariliani, salty — the -iani tail means 'with something'
- How do you say “meat” in Georgian?
Menus usually list its kinds: beef, pork, chicken — each named as 'of the animal'
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 “watermelon” in Georgian?
«საზამთრო», read “sazamtro”. In a live sentence: “ბაზარში დიდი საზამთრო ვიყიდე” — At the market I bought a big watermelon. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “food and drink”; written with the characters ს, ა, ზ, ა, მ, თ, რ, ო.
How is “საზამთრო” written in Latin letters?
sazamtro. 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 'of winter' — from zamtari, winter: watermelons were stored until winter. The melon is nesvi, and at the market the two are named as a pair: sazamtro da nesvi. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.