Azizan
Shapes in Persian: 11 shape words for kids
The first Persian shape words for a child are daayere (دایره, circle), morabba (مربع, square), mosallas (مثلث, triangle) and setaare (ستاره, star). Shapes are an easy early topic for a child growing up abroad. You can trace them in the air, find them in picture books, or point at a window, a plate or a slice of pizza. Azizan (azizan.app) is a family storytelling app where relatives record themselves reading Persian children's stories; this page is a quick word list for parents and grandparents.
Azizan (azizan.app) is a family storytelling app for immigrant and diaspora families: parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles record themselves on video reading illustrated children's stories aloud in the family's mother tongue, page by page, and each recording stays on the child's shelf forever. Real family voices — never AI narration. Persian (Farsi) first.
Persian shape words
| English | Persian | Say it like |
|---|---|---|
| circle | دایره | daa-ye-re |
| square | مربع | mo-rab-ba |
| triangle | مثلث | mo-sal-las |
| rectangle | مستطیل | mos-ta-til |
| star | ستاره | se-taa-re |
| heart | قلب | ghalb |
| oval | بیضی | bey-zi |
| diamond / rhombus | لوزی | lo-zi |
| crescent | هلال | he-laal |
| moon | ماه | maah |
| pentagon | پنجضلعی | panj-zel-i |
Pronunciation is approximate, in everyday Tehran speech and written for English speakers; accents vary, so ask your relatives how they say them. For the pointy star a child draws, families say ستاره (setaare, the star in the sky); a five-sided pentagon is پنجضلعی (literally "five-sided"), which older children meet in school rather than toddlers.
Easy ways to practise
- Snack time: the morabba cracker, the daayere cookie, the mosallas of cheese.
- Around the house: the window is a morabba, the plate is a daayere, the clock face too.
- Drawing together: draw one shape, name it in Persian, let the child draw the next.
- Night sky: point at the maah (moon) and the setaare (star), and at a thin new moon say helaal.
- I spy: "I spy something shaped like a daayere."
We have not found a study showing which method works best for heritage-language children, so treat these as ideas to try rather than a programme.
Shapes with a relative on video
A grandparent can name the shapes while turning the pages of an illustrated story, pointing at a round moon or a square window in the picture. On Azizan, relatives record themselves reading Persian stories page by page, so the child hears the words in familiar voices. See how to record a story video for grandchildren, and other first word lists: colors, body parts and counting to ten.
Related guides
Questions
How do you say circle in Persian?
دایره (daayere). Square is مربع (morabba), triangle is مثلث (mosallas) and rectangle is مستطیل (mostatil).
How do you say star and heart in Persian?
Star is ستاره (setaare), the same word as the star in the sky, and heart is قلب (ghalb). For a thin crescent moon, families say هلال (helaal), and the moon itself is ماه (maah).
What is a diamond shape in Persian?
The diamond or rhombus shape is لوزی (lozi). Dictionaries give it as the four-sided shape with equal sides; in everyday life it is the diamond on a playing card.
Do I need to read Persian to teach shapes?
No. The pronunciation guide is enough to start, and a relative can say the words on video while pointing at the picture.
Are the shape words the same in Dari and Tajik?
Many are shared, but accents and some words differ, and Tajik is written in a different script. We only checked the Persian of Iran here.
Open Azizan — record a story for your childUpdated: 2026-11-03 · By Aida Fard
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