Azad
/əˈzɑːd/noun
Free, independent, or liberated, especially in South Asian usage.
Did you know?The word’s older Iranian sense connected freedom with free birth or noble status, revealing how ancient societies often treated liberty as inherited rather than universal.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ǵenh₁-
“To beget, give birth, or come into being”
Proto-Iranian
PIE/Iranian
*ā-zāta-
“Born out or free-born”
Old Iranian
Old Iranian
ā-zāta
“Free-born, noble, or independent”
Middle Persian
Middle Persian
āzād
“Free; of free or noble birth”
Classical Persian
Persian
آزاد (āzād)
“Free, liberated, independent”
Modern English
English
azad
“Free or independent, chiefly in South Asian contexts”