Dari

//ˈdɑːɹi// name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Synonym of sorghum. archaic, uncountable

    "Foods, like locust-beans, or rice-meal, or dari-grain (a species of sorghum), which contain less than 8 or 9 per cent. of albuminoids, are too poor in nitrogenous substances to suit the requirements of the animal."

  2. 2
    an Iranian language spoken in Afghanistan wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The variety of the Persian language that is chiefly used in Afghanistan, contrasted with varieties spoken elsewhere such as Iranian Persian or Tajik.
  2. 2
    A variety of Middle Persian which served as the court language of the late Sasanian Empire. historical, uncommon
  3. 3
    A language primarily spoken in the Yazd and Kerman areas of Iran.

Example

More examples

"Dari is a dialect of the Persian language."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Compare Ottoman Turkish داری (modern Turkish darı) and Arabic ذُرَة (ḏura).

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Classical Persian دری (darī), of disputed origin, probably from دربار (darbār, “royal court”). The term was adopted by the government of Afghanistan in 1964 as the official name of the varieties of Persian spoken in the country, which has become the most common usage of the term since.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.