استاد

See also: إستاد and أستاذ

Persian

Alternative forms

• استاذ (ostâz) (archaic)
• اوستاد (ôstâd)
• استا (ostâ), اوستا (ustâ)
• (informal) اوسا (ussâ), (slang) اوس (us)

Etymology

From earlier اوستاد (ustâd), from Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (ʾwstʾt'), 𐫀𐫇𐫏𐫘𐫤𐫀𐫅 (ʾwystʾd /⁠awestād⁠/, “master, craftsman”), from Proto-Iranian *Hawastātas (compare Avestan 𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬯𐬙𐬁𐬙𐬀 (auuastāta), Northern Kurdish hoste, oste, wista, wusta, وەستا (westa), Mazanderani استات (estât), استا (estâ), اسا (essâ)), verbal noun of Proto-Iranian *HawastaHyáti (compare Old Persian 𐎠𐎺𐎠𐎿𐎫𐎠𐎹𐎶 (a-v-a-s-t-a-y-m /⁠avāstāyam⁠/), Avestan 𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬀 (auuastaiia)), from *Hawa- (compare Avestan 𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬀 (auua)) +‎ *staHyáti, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Háwa + *staHyáti, the latter from Proto-Indo-European *stoh₂éyeti (“to cause to stand”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔus.tɑːð]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔʊs.t̪ʰɑːd̪]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔʊs.t̪ʰɑːd̪]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔʊs.t̪ʰɑːd̪]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔus.t̪ʰɔːd̪̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔos.t̪ʰɒːd̪̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔus.t̪ʰɔd̪]

Readings
Classical reading?	ustāḏ
Dari reading?	ustād
Iranian reading?	ostâd
Tajik reading?	ustod

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

Adjective

اُسْتَاد • (ostâd) (comparative اُسْتَادتَر (ostâd-tar), superlative اُسْتَادتَرین (ostâd-tarin))

1. skilled, expert

Noun

Dari	استاد
Iranian Persian
Tajik	устод

اُسْتَاد • (ostâd) (plural استادان (ostâdân) or استادها (ostâd-hâ) or اساتید (asâtid))

1. master (an expert at something; a tradesman who is qualified to teach apprentices; a skilled artist)
   1. ustad
2. (archaic) tutor
3. a senior craftsman
4. expert
5. professor (a teacher or faculty member at a college or university regardless of formal rank)

Derived terms

• استادی (ostâdi)
• استادانه (ostâdâne)
• استاخانه (ostâxâne)
• استادکار (ostâdkâr), استاکار (ostâkâr)
• استادیار (ostâdyâr)
• استادتمام (ostâdtamâm)

Descendants

• → Arabic: أُسْتَاذ (ʔustāḏ)
  • Gulf Arabic: استاذ (istāḏ)
  • → Lishana Deni: אסתאדא (ʾəstāḏa)
  • → Malay: ustaz
    • Indonesian: ustaz
  • → Swahili: stadi
  • → Yakan: ustad
• → Assamese: ওস্তাদ (üstad)
• → Azerbaijani: usta, ustad
• → Bashkir: оҫта (ośta), остаз (ostaz)
• → Bengali: ওস্তাদ (ōstad)
• → Chinese:
  • → Dungan: вуста (vusta)
• → Georgian: ოსტატი (osṭaṭi)
  • → Bats: ოსტატ (osṭaṭ)
  • → Mingrelian: ორსანტი (orsanṭi)
  • → Svan: უ̂ოსტა̈ტ (ûosṭäṭ)
• → Gujarati: ઉસ્તાદ (ustād)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: उस्ताद (ustād)

  Urdu: استاد (ustād)

  • → English: ustad

• → Kazakh: ұста (ūsta), ұстаз (ūstaz)
• → Mandaic: ࡀࡎࡕࡀࡃ (astad)
• → Ottoman Turkish: استا (usta), استاد (üstâd)

  > Turkish: üstad, üstat, usta (inherited)

  → Albanian: usta

  → Middle Armenian: ուսթայ (ustʻay), ուսթա (ustʻa), ուստայ (ustay)

  → Armenian: ուստա (usta)

  → Romanian: usta

• → Punjabi: ਉਸਤਾਦ (usatād)
• → Uyghur: ئۇستا (usta), ئۇستات (ustat), ئۇستاز (ustaz)
• → Uzbek: usta, ustoz

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian اُسْتَاد (ustād). Doublet of اُسْتاذ (ustāz).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ʊs.t̪ɑːd̪/
• Rhymes: -ɑːd̪
• Hyphenation: اُسْ‧تاد

Noun

اُسْتاد • (ustād) m (formal plural اَساتِذَہ (asātiza), Hindi spelling उस्ताद)

1. professor; teacher, tutor
2. expert, master
3. (religion) spiritual leader
4. An honorific title used for a great musician of Hindustani classical music

Declension

Declension of استاد
	singular	plural
direct	اُسْتاد (ustād)	اُسْتاد (ustād)
oblique	اُسْتاد (ustād)	اُسْتادوں (ustādõ)
vocative	اُسْتاد (ustād)	اُسْتادو (ustādo)

Descendants

• → English: ustad

Further reading

• Platts, John T. (1884) “استاد”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 47
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “استاد”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co., page 50
• “استاد”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• John Shakespear (1834) “استاد”, 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
• “استاد”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.