Persian
[pur-zhuh n, -shuh n]
- of or relating to ancient and recent Persia (now Iran), its people, or their language.
- a member of the native peoples of Iran, descended in part from the ancient Iranians.
- a citizen of ancient Persia.
- an Iranian language, the principal language of Iran and western Afghanistan, in its historical and modern forms.Compare Old Persian, Pahlavi, Farsi.
- Architecture. a figure of a man used as a column.
- Persians. Persian blinds.
Origin of Persian
Persians, The
- a tragedy (472 b.c.) by Aeschylus.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for persians
Contemporary Examples
But underground classes have Persians getting with the beat.
Lawler notes that in the Zoroastrian religion of the Persians, the rooster was of the utmost importance.
But these Persians will have to compete against another, very different image, of Iran in pop culture this year.
Deprived of their command of the sea, defeated at the decisive land battle of Plataea, the Persians were forced to retreat.
The ancient Persians did not write much down, and what they wrote was nothing like history.
Historical Examples
After the Greeks came the Persians, who conquered all of northern Africa.
Ancient ManHendrik Willem van Loon
The Persians called it Bagistana which means the "dwellingplace of the Gods."
Ancient ManHendrik Willem van Loon
The laws of hospitality are as the laws of the Medes and Persians.
Camps, Quarters and Casual PlacesArchibald Forbes
The Persians ran into the sea to reach the ships, and the Athenians followed them.
Introductory American HistoryHenry Eldridge Bourne
The Persians landed from their ships and filled the plain near the shore.
Introductory American HistoryHenry Eldridge Bourne
Persian
- of or relating to ancient Persia or modern Iran, their inhabitants, or their languages
- a native, citizen, or inhabitant of modern Iran; an Iranian
- a member of an Indo-European people of West Iranian speech who established a great empire in SW Asia in the 6th century bc
- the language of Iran or Persia in any of its ancient or modern forms, belonging to the West Iranian branch of the Indo-European familySee also Avestan, Old Persian, Pahlavi 2, Farsi
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for persians
Persian
c.1400, percynne (adj.), Old English Perse (n.), both from Latin *Persianus (the adjective via Old French persien), from Persia "Persia" (see Persia). First record of Persian cat is from 1785.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper