اختیار

See also: اختيار

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic اِخْتِيَار (iḵtiyār, “choice, election”).

Noun

اختیار • (ihtiyâr) (definite accusative اختیاری (ihtiyârı), plural اختیارات (ihtiyârât))

1. choice, selection, decision, the process or act of choosing or selecting one or more elements of a set

   Synonyms: انتخاب (intihâb), سچمه (seçme)

2. choice, option, possibility, the freedom or right to choose between several elements or alternatives

   Synonym: انتخاب (intihâb)

3. free will, agency, the capacity of individuals to act indipendently and to make their own free choices

Adjective

اختیار • (ihtiyâr)

1. (of a living creature) old, aged, eldern, having existed for a relatively long period of time

   Synonyms: بزرك (büzürg), قوجه (koca), یاشلو (yaşlı)

Derived terms

• اختیار الدن كیتمك (ihtiyâr elden gitmek, “to lose freewill”)
• اختیار الده اولمق (ihtiyâr elde olmak, “to have freewill”)
• اختیار ایتمك (ihtiyâr etmek, “to choose, elect, prefer”)
• اختیار سكوت (ihtiyâr-ı sükut, “voluntary silence”)
• اختیارانه (ihtiyârane, “senile, peculiar to an old man”)
• اختیاراً (ihtiyâren, “of one's own choice”)
• اختیارسز (ihtiyârsız, “optionless, choiceless”)
• اختیارلاتمق (ihtiyârlatmak, “to make one become old”)
• اختیارلامق (ihtiyârlamak, “to grow old and senile”)
• اختیارلق (ihtiyârlık, “old age, senility”)
• اختیاری (ihtiyârî, “facultative”)

Descendants

• Turkish: ihtiyar

Further reading

• Barbier de Meynard, Charles (1881) “اختیار”, in Dictionnaire turc-français, volume I, Paris: E. Leroux, page 22
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “ihtiyar”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 2117
• Devellioğlu, Ferit (1962) “ihtiyâr”, in Osmanlıca-Türkçe Ansiklopedik Lûgat‎‎ (in Turkish), Istanbul: Türk Dil Kurumu, page 504
• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “اختیار”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎, Constantinople: Mihran, page 59
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “Electio”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎, Vienna, column 455
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “اختیار”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎, Vienna, column 94
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “ihtiyar”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “اختیار”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 43

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic اِخْتِيَار (iḵtiyār).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔix.ti.ˈjɑːɾ]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɪx.t̪ʰi.jɑ́ːɾ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɪx.t̪ʰi.jɑ́ːɾ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔɪx.t̪ʰi.jɑ́ːɾ]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔix.t̪ʰi.jɔ́ːɾ]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔex.t̪i.jɒ́ːɹ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔiχ.t̪ʰi.jɔ́ɾ]

Readings
Classical reading?	ixtiyār
Dari reading?	ixtiyār
Iranian reading?	extiyâr
Tajik reading?	ixtiyor

• Rhymes: -ɑːr

Noun

Dari	اختیار
Iranian Persian
Tajik	ихтиёр

اِختِیار • (extiyâr) (plural اختیارات (extiyârât))

1. option

   Synonyms: خیار (xiyâr), گزینه (gozine), انتخاب (entexâb)

2. choice

   Synonym: انتخاب (entexâb)

3. authority, power to choose
   • c. 1390, Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ, “Ghazal 267”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Ḥāfiẓ]‎, archived from the original on 2023-12-09:

     دل به رغبت می‌سپارد جان به چشم مست یار
     گرچه هشیاران ندادند اختیار خود به کس

     dil ba rağbat mē-sipārad jān ba čašm-i mast-i yār
     garči hušyārān na-dādand ixtiyār-i xwad ba kas

     My soul joyfully entrusts my heart to the beloved's drunken eyes,
     Though the wise do not grant authority [over them] to anyone.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

Derived terms

• اختیاری (extiyâri)

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian اِخْتِیَار (ixtiyār), from Arabic اِخْتِيَار (iḵtiyār).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɪx.t̪ɪ.jɑːɾ/

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Audio (India):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːɾ

Noun

اِخْتِیَار • (ixtiyār) m (formal plural اِخْتِیَارَات (ixtiyārāt), Hindi spelling इख़्तियार)

1. power, authority, jurisdiction
2. choice, adoption, control, discretion, option
3. imprimatur

Derived terms

• اِخْتِیَارِی (ixtiyārī)

Further reading

• “اختیار”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “اختیار”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “اختيار”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.