ਦਿਮਾਗ਼

Dimaag (ਦਿਮਾਗ਼) is the Punjabi word for the brain: the organ inside the head that thinks, remembers and decides. Punjabis use it for the physical brain and, just as often, for the mind at work, so a sharp person is praised for a tez dimaag, a fast brain.

What does dimaag mean in Punjabi?

Dimaag means brain, and by extension intellect: the power to think, understand and judge. Rekhta's dictionary gives the same spread of meanings for the word across the region's languages: the brain itself, intelligence, and mental power. In daily Punjabi the thinking sense is everywhere, in praise such as dimaag bahut tez hai, the brain is very sharp, and in advice such as dimaag ton kamm lao, use your brain.

Where does the word dimaag come from?

Dimaag came into Punjabi from Arabic, travelling through Persian and Urdu, and Rekhta illustrates it with verses by Meer Taqi Meer and Mirza Ghalib. A study of Punjabi body words counts dimag among the body terms that come from Perso-Arabic sources, in a list where most other body words are native. The loanword has been at home for centuries, and no Punjabi speaker today hears it as a foreign word.

What is the difference between dimaag and mann?

Mann (ਮਨ) is the inner mind or heart: the seat of feelings, wishes and faith, and the word Gurbani speaks to. Dimaag is the thinking equipment: reason, memory and working things out. A decision can rise in the mann while the dimaag works out how to carry it out, and Punjabi keeps the two words apart in just that way.

How is dimaag used in everyday Punjabi?

Everyday speech plays on the word. Dimaag khaana, to eat someone's brain, means to pester them with questions or talk. Dimaag kharab hona says a person's head is not right: they are upset, fed up, or not thinking straight. And dimaag larauna, to set the brain wrestling, means to think hard at a problem until it gives way.