Iranian

[ ih-rey-nee-uhn, ih-rah-, ahy-rey- ]

adjective

1. of or relating to Iran, its inhabitants, or their language.
2. of or relating to the Iranian languages.

noun

1. a subbranch of the Indo-European family of languages, including especially Persian, Pashto, Avestan, and Kurdish.
2. an inhabitant of Iran; Persian.

Iranian

/ ɪˈreɪnɪən /

noun

1. a native, citizen, or inhabitant of Iran
2. a branch of the Indo-European family of languages, divided into West Iranian (including Old Persian, Pahlavi, modern Persian, Kurdish, Baluchi, and Tajik) and East Iranian (including Avestan, Sogdian, Pashto, and Ossetic)
3. AlsoPersianFarsi the modern Persian language

adjective

1. relating to, denoting, or characteristic of Iran, its inhabitants, or their language; Persian
2. belonging to or relating to the Iranian branch of Indo-European

Other Words From

• an·ti-I·ra·ni·an adjective noun
• pro-I·ra·ni·an adjective noun
• pseu·do-I·ra·ni·an adjective noun
• trans-I·ra·ni·an adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Iranian¹

First recorded in 1835–45; Iran + -ian

Example Sentences

“Under Suleimani several military branches have taken shape [in Iraq] which are run by Iran and the Iranian military,” he said.

From The Daily Beast

A senior Iranian official in Pakistan later confirmed the strike took place, declining to elaborate.

From The Daily Beast

Rights activists like Boledi, the Iranian Baluch dissident living in Sweden, harbor some of the same concerns.

From The Daily Beast

A few weeks later, the militants carried out a series of raids on border posts, killing five Iranian policemen.

From The Daily Beast

Saleem believes that the strike came from a nearby airbase across the Iranian border.

From The Daily Beast

De Morgan believes that he has found proofs of their presence on the Iranian plateau at a comparatively late date.

From Project Gutenberg

Everything tended to more firmly fix in their structure the already long-inherited characters of their Iranian ancestors.

From Project Gutenberg

This notion of the way, which was also the truth and the life, seems to have existed before the separation of Indian from Iranian.

From Project Gutenberg

Its origin is hard to trace, but parts of the legends carry the investigator back to Iranian sources.

From Project Gutenberg

A lower and less pretentious variety of the same head-gear adorns the brow of the fin de sicle Iranian gallant.

From Project Gutenberg