# دولت
## Ottoman Turkish
### Alternative forms

* տէվլէթ (devlet) — Armeno-Turkish

### Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic دَوْلَة (dawla).

### Noun

دولت • (devlet) (definite accusative دولتی (devleti), plural دول (düvel))
* change; change for the better
* prosperity
* government
* state

#### Derived terms

* دولتجه (devletce)
* دولتلی (devletli, “prosperous”)

#### Descendants

* Turkish: devlet
* → Albanian: dovlet, daulet
* → Greek: δοβλέτι (dovléti), ντοβλέτι (ntovléti)
* → Romanian: devlet
* → Serbo-Croatian: dèvlet / дѐвлет

### References

* Redhouse, James W. (1890) “دولت”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 926

## Persian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic دَوْلَة (dawla).
In medieval sources, it most commonly means "fortune" or "stroke of good fortune," especially associated with the ruling monarch. The word now means "state; government" due to metonymy: "the royal fortune" > "the king's dominion" > "the government of the king". Up to the nineteenth century, the ruling state was most often called دولت عالیه (dowlat-e âliyye, literally “the sublime fortune [of the king]”).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Persian) IPA: [daw.ˈlat]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [d̪äw.lǽt̪]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [d̪äw.lǽt̪]
** (Kabuli) IPA: [d̪äw.lǽt̪]
** (Hazaragi) IPA: [d̪äw.lǽt̪]
* (Iran, formal) IPA: [d̪ow.lǽt̪]
* (Iran, formal) IPA: [d̪ow.lǽt̪]
** (Tehrani) IPA: [d̪oː.lǽt̪]
* (Tajik, formal) IPA: [d̪äw.lǽt̪]
* Audio (Iran):(file)

### Noun

دُوْلَت • (dowlat) (plural دولت‌ها (dowlat-hâ) or دول (doval))
* state, government
    کارمند دولت ― kârmand-e dowlat ― government employee
    دولت آن وقت ― dowlat-e ân vaqt ― the government at the time
    مجلس شورای اسلامی در ایران وظیفه قانون گذاری و نظارت بر دولت را دارد.majles-e šowrâ-ye eslâmi dar irân vazife-ye qânun-gozâri va nazârat bar dowlat râ dârad.The Islamic Consultative Assembly in Iran has the duties of lawmaking and supervision of the government.
* dominion, rulership
* (dated, literary) fortune, good fortune
** early 1000s, ʿUnṣurī, “Panegyric 3”, in دیوان عنصری‎:گفتم او را چه خواهم از ایزد گفت عمر دراز و دولت شابguftam ō rā či xwāham az ēzad guft umr-i darāz u dawlat-i šābI said to him, "What do you desire from God?" He said, "A long life and the fortune of a youth!"(Classical romanization)
** c. 1390, Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ, “Ghazal 392”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Ḥāfiẓ]‎:دانی که چیست دولت؟ دیدار یار دیدن در کوی او گدایی بر خسروی گزیدنdānī ki čē-st dawlat? dīdār-i yār dīdan dar kōy-i ō gadāyī bar xusrawī guzīdanDo you know what fortune is? To see the beloved's face, To prefer begging in her street to being the king of kings.(Classical Persian transliteration)
* (dated, literary) wealth, (monetary) fortune, prosperity

#### Usage notes

* In contemporary Iranian contexts, the word دولت (dowlat, “government”) refers to that section of the government presided by the رئیس‌جمهور (ra'is-jomhur, “President”) and his cabinet. The word حکومت (hokumat, “state”) refers to the entirety of the governmental apparatus under the supervision of the رهبر (rahbar, “Supreme Leader”).
   * Note that this usage is quite the opposite of the respective etyma دَوْلة (dawla) and حُكُومة (ḥukūma) in contemporary Arabic.
* In contemporary Tadjikistan, the word давлат (davlat, “government, state”) is often used as a synonymous for кишвар (kišvar, “country”).

#### Descendants

* → Assamese: দৌলত (doulot)
* → Azerbaijani: dövlət
* → Bengali: দৌলত (dōulot)
* → Georgian: დოვლათი (dovlati)
* → Gujarati: દોલત (dolat)
    Gujarati: دولت (daulat) — Lisan ud-Dawat
* → Hindustani:
    Hindi: दौलत (daulat)
    Urdu: دَولَت (daulat)
* → Kannada: ದೌಲತ್ತು (daulattu)
* → Kazakh: дәулет (däulet)
* → Kyrgyz: дөөлөт (döölöt)
* → Maithili: daulti
    Devanagari script: दौलति
    Tirhuta script: 𑒠𑒾𑒪𑒞𑒱
* → Malayalam: ദൌലത്ത് (daulattŭ)
* → Marathi: दौलत (daulat)
* → Marwari: दौलत (daulat)
* → Nepali: दौलत (daulat)
* → Odia: ଦୌଲତ (daulata)
* → Punjabi:
    Gurmukhi script: ਦੌਲਤ (daulat)
    Shahmukhi script: دَولَت (daulat)
* → Sindhi:
    Arabic script: دَوْلَتَ
    Devanagari script: दौलत
* → Tamil: தௌலத்து (taulattu), தௌலத் (taulat)
* → Tatar: дәүләт (däwlät)
* → Telugu: దౌలత్తు (daulattu)
* → Turkmen: döwlet
* → Uzbek: davlat

## Urdu
### Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian دَولَت (dawlat), borrowed from Arabic دَوْلَة (dawla).

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Urdu) IPA: /d̪ɔː.lət̪/
* Rhymes: -ət̪
* Hyphenation: دَو‧لَت

### Noun

دَولَت • (daulat) f (Hindi spelling दौलत)
* wealth; riches; fortune
* (by extension) power
* prosperity, good fortune
* (obsolete) government, state, dominion

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “دولت”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
* “دولت”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
* Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024) “دولت”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]