Jump To:

• Ian
  Ian

  noun

  a male given name, Scottish form of John.
• -ian
  -ian

  a suffix with the same meaning and properties as -an, though -ian is now the more productive of the two suffixes in recent coinages, especially when the base noun ends in a consonant: Orwellian; Washingtonian .

Ian

¹ American  

[ee-uhn, ee-ahn, ahy-uhn] / ˈi ən, ˈi ɑn, ˈaɪ ən /

noun

1. a male given name, Scottish form of John.

---

-ian ² American  

1. a suffix with the same meaning and properties as -an, though -ian is now the more productive of the two suffixes in recent coinages, especially when the base noun ends in a consonant: Orwellian; Washingtonian .

---

-ian British  

suffix

1. a variant of -an

   Etonian

   Johnsonian

---

Etymology

Origin of -ian

Extracted from Latin loanwords in which -ānus (adjective suffix) is joined to stems ending in i; see -an

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Ian -ian

Prof Ian Walker, head of psychology at Swansea University, said people could be "constrained by automatic habits" when it comes to water usage.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

The company, owned by pioneering YouTubers Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla, produces up to 10 hours of internet content weekly across five channels.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

BP said its interim chairman, Ian Tyler, would take on the role permanently.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

I’m filling in for Ian today, so let’s take a break from the usual ignominies we cover on the Slatest to talk about something completely different.

From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026

Ian was still being held in solitary confinement in Florida.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

The adjectivally ennobled: the ones whose names sprout "-esque" and "-ian".

From The Guardian ● Jan. 15, 2013

Note.—These verbs have no trace of original umlaut, since their -ian was once -ōjan.

From Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book with Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary by C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso) Smith

Distinction is to be made, therefore, only between Classes II and I. Class II contains the verbs with infinitive in -ian not preceded by r.

From Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book with Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary by C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso) Smith