خوشبو

Persian

Alternative forms

• خوشبوی (xošbuy)

Etymology

From خوش (xoš) +‎ بو (bu).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [xʷaʃ.boː], [xʷaʃ.boːj]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [xʊʃ.boː], [xʊʃ.buːj], [xʊʃ.buː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [xʊʃ.boː], [xʊʃ.buːj], [xʊʃ.buː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [xʊʃ.boː], [xʊʃ.buːj], [xʊʃ.buː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [xuʃ.bʊː], [xuʃ.buj], [xuʃ.bu]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [xoʃ.buː], [xoʃ.buːj]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [χuʃ.bɵ], [χuʃ.bɵj]

Readings
Classical reading?	xwašbō, xwašbōy
Dari reading?	xušbō, xušbūy, xušbū
Iranian reading?	xošbu, xošbuy
Tajik reading?	xušbü, xušbüy

Adjective

Dari	خوشبو
Iranian Persian
Tajik	хушбӯ, хушбӯй

خوشبو • (xošbu)

1. sweet-smelling, fragrant
   • c. 1520, Selim I of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Benedek Péri, The Persian Dīvān of Yavuz Sulṭān Selīm, Budapest, Hungary: Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, →ISBN, page 206:

     نیافتم چو رخت ای پری گلی خوشبو
     بیاد وصل تو هرچند در چمن گشتم

     na-yāftam čū ruxat ay parī gulē xwašbō
     ba-yād-i wasl-i tō harčand dar čaman gaštam

     I did not find a rose as fragrant as your cheeks, o fairy,
     Though I went to the meadow in memory of my reunion with you.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

Noun

خوشبو • (xošbu)

1. fragrance, perfume

Descendants

• → Bengali: খোশবু (khošbu)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: ख़ुशबू (xuśbū)

  Urdu: خوشبو (xuśbū)

• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਖੁਸ਼ਬੂ (khuśbū)

  Shahmukhi script: خوشبو (xuśbū)

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “خوشبو”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian خوشبو (xʷašbu). By surface analysis, خوش (xuš, “pleasant; sweet”) +‎ بو (bū, “smell, scent”). First attested in c. 1564 as Middle Hindi خوشبو (xvśbv).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /xʊʃ.buː/
• Rhymes: -uː

Noun

خُوشْبُو • (xūśbū) f (Hindi spelling ख़ुशबू)

1. pleasant-smell; sweet-smell

   اس کی داڑھی سے خوشبو آرہی تھی

   us ke dāṛhī se xušbū ārhī thī

   a pleasant-smell was coming off his beard

2. fragrance, scent; odor, aroma

   تیری خوشبو جنت کی ہے

   terī xušbū jannat kī hai

   your fragrance is that of paradise

3. perfume, cologne

   خوشبو لگانا، فرشتاوں انا

   xušbū lagānā, farištõ ānā

   put on perfume, the angels visit

Antonyms

• بد بو (bad-bū)

Derived terms

• خوشبوئی (xušbū'ī, “fragrance”)
• خوشبودار (xušbūdār, “fragrant”)
• خوشبو دانہ (xušbū-dāna, “incense”)
• خوشبو ساز (xušbū-sāz, “perfumer”)
• خوشبو خانہ (xušbū-xāna)

Further reading

More information

• “خوشبو”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “خوشبو”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884) “خوشبو”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• S. W. Fallon (1879) “خوشبو”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co.
• John Shakespear (1834) “خوشبو”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC