persian
/ˈpɝʒən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.83 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of, from, or pertaining to Persia.
adj
Of or pertaining to the Persian people.
adj
Of or pertaining to the Persian language.
noun
A native or inhabitant of the historical polity of Persia (for example, any of the various Persian empires).
noun
A member of the ethnic group indigenous to Persis and the Iranian plateau that forms the majority of the population of modern-day Iran.
noun
Ellipsis of Persian cat.
Example Sentences
- "MOHAMMAD REZA SHAJARIAN (Thursday) Renowned in his native Iran, the vocalist Mohammad Reza Shajarian has been performing since the 1960s, and is now widely considered one of the finest classical Persian singers in the world. Mr. Shajarian’s son, Homayoun Shajarian, will provide additional vocals and tombak (goblet drum), while Ensemble Ava, a four-piece, will contribute additional instrumentation on the ancient Persian instruments barbat (short-necked lute), tar (long-necked lute), kamancheh (spike fiddle) and daf (frame drum)."
- "The Persians (including the Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Syrians, Phœnicians, Jews, and Egyptians), in contrast to the foregoing, possess a germ of historical development, […]"
- "[…] Macedonians and Persians had a long history of contact: Macedonia had once been part of the Persian Empire – Alexander I fought on the Persian side in the Persian War – and there were personal and diplomatic contacts of many sorts […]"
- "Recruits [to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps] tended to be ethnic Persians or Azeris between the ages of 17 and 28 and generally hailed from poorer or religious families."
- "There is of those Persians several lengths."
- "The resulting Belter creole is a crazy mix of English, Chinese, romance languages like French, German, Persian, Hebrew, Zulu, and a few other surprises. Farmer says he has over 1,000 Belter words in his personal dictionary, and he keeps adding more as the show’s producers and fans request them."
Etymology
From Middle English Persien, from Middle French persien, from Italian persiano, from Medieval Latin Persiānus, from Persia (itself from Persēs/Persa (“Persian man”) [from Ancient Greek Πέρσης (Pérsēs), itself from Old Persian 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿 (p-a-r-s /Pārsa/, “Persian”)] + -ia (suffix forming country names)) + -iānus. Equivalent to Pers(ia) + -ian. Compare Early Classical Persian پارس (pārs) or modern Iranian Persian فارس (fârs), where the shift p > f.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɝʒən/
- British English: /ˈpɜː.ʒən/