Persian

American  

[pur-zhuhn, -shuhn] / ˈpɜr ʒən, -ʃən /

adjective

1. of or relating to ancient and recent Persia (now Iran), its people, or their language.

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noun

1. a member of the native peoples of Iran, descended in part from the ancient Iranians.

2. a citizen of ancient Persia.

3. an Iranian language, the principal language of Iran and western Afghanistan, in its historical and modern forms.

4. Architecture. a figure of a man used as a column.

5. Persians. Persian blinds.

Persian British  

/ ˈpɜːʃən /

adjective

1. of or relating to ancient Persia or modern Iran, their inhabitants, or their languages

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noun

1. a native, citizen, or inhabitant of modern Iran; an Iranian

2. a member of an Indo-European people of West Iranian speech who established a great empire in SW Asia in the 6th century _bc

3. the language of Iran or Persia in any of its ancient or modern forms, belonging to the West Iranian branch of the Indo-European family See also Avestan Old Persian Pahlavi 2 Farsi

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• trans-Persian
  adjective
• pseudo-Persian
  adjective
• pre-Persian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Persian

First recorded in 1325–75; Persi(a) + -an; replacing Middle English Persien, from Middle French; replacing Old English Persisc ( -ish ¹ )

Example Sentences

It would also be consequential for California's huge Persian community, including Ramin Nayebzadeh, who attended Monday's training with his nine-year-old son Arta.

From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026

"Honestly, my heart sank when the war started again," one audience member told BBC Persian.

From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow Persian Gulf waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil normally travels.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

Besides anger at Iran, the mood toward the U.S. in Kuwait and the rest of the Gulf has been frustration, said Bader Al-Saif, an expert on Persian Gulf and Arabian affairs at Kuwait University.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026

By the door was a rolled-up Persian rug that we had brought with us for Ellie.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri