آغوش

Persian

Etymology

From Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (ʾkwš /⁠āgōš⁠/, “embrace”) or Middle Persian 𐫀𐫀𐫇𐫢 (ʾʾwš, “armful”), which go back to different Old Iranian forms, the former with */k/ and the latter with */g/; the two may have merged in New Persian. Compare Mazanderani کشه (kaše), Sogdian [script needed] (qwš(y) /⁠kōš, kuši, kuše⁠/), Sarikoli maɣɛwl (“in an embrace”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔɑː.ɣoːʃ]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɑː.ɣoːʃ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɑː.ɣoːʃ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔɑː.ɣoːʃ]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔɔː.ɣʊːʃ]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɒː.ɢuːʃ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɔ.ʁɵʃ]

Readings
Classical reading?	āğōš
Dari reading?	āğōš
Iranian reading?	âğuš
Tajik reading?	oġüš

Noun

Dari	آغوش
Iranian Persian
Tajik	оғӯш

آغوش • (âğuš)

1. embrace; arms
   • c. 1390, Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ, “Ghazal 15”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Ḥāfiẓ]‎^[1]:

     خوابم بشد از دیده در این فکر جگرسوز
     کآغوش که شد منزل آسایش و خوابت؟

     xwāb-am bišud az dīda dar īn fikr-i jigarsōz
     k-āğōš-i ki šud manzil-i āsāyiš u xwāb-at

     Sleep left my eyes because of this heart-burning thought—
     Whose embrace will be the place for your rest and sleep?

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

2. armful

Derived terms

• دَر آغوش گِرِفتَن (dar âğuš gereftan, “to embrace”)

 

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: ağuş
• → Gujarati: આગોશ (āgoś)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: आग़ोश (āġoś)

  Urdu: آغوش (āġoś)

• → Turkish: aguş

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “آغوش”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim
• Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–) “آغوش”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian آغوش (āğōš), from Middle Persian [script needed] (ʾkwš /⁠āgōš⁠/, “embrace”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɑː.ɣoːʃ/
• Rhymes: -oːʃ

Noun

آغوش • (āġoś) f (Hindi spelling आग़ोश)

1. embrace

   Synonym: (rare) آلِنگَن (āliṅgan)

Further reading

• “آغوش”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “آغُوش”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “آغوش”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884) “آغوش”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.