bakhtiari
|bakh-ti-a-ri|
🇺🇸
/bækˈtiəri/
🇬🇧
/bækˈtɪəri/
Iranian tribal people
Etymology
'bakhtiari' originates from Persian, specifically the word 'Bakhtiyārī' (بختیاری), where 'bakht' meant 'fortune' or 'fate' and the name element 'Bakhtiyār' meant 'fortunate' (literally 'having fortune').
'bakhtiari' developed from the Persian tribal name 'Bakhtiyār' → adjectival/tribal form 'Bakhtiyārī' and entered English as the name of the people and related items (e.g., dialect, carpets).
Initially it identified people associated with the name 'Bakhtiyār' (i.e., 'those of/related to Bakhtiyār' or 'the fortunate ones'); over time it became the established ethnonym for the tribal group and was extended to their dialect and cultural products.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a member of the Bakhtiari people, an Iranian Lur tribal group traditionally living in the Zagros mountains (mainly Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Khuzestan, and Lorestan provinces).
She is a bakhtiari who grew up in the Zagros foothills.
Synonyms
Noun 2
the Bakhtiari people collectively: the tribe or ethnic group known as the Bakhtiari.
The bakhtiari have a long history of pastoralism and seasonal migration.
Synonyms
Noun 3
the Bakhtiari dialect (a variety of the Luri language spoken by the Bakhtiari people).
He speaks bakhtiari at home and Persian at work.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2026/01/03 05:06