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

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

Meanwhile, the US Treasury on Wednesday sanctioned Iran's newly formed "Persian Gulf Strait Authority", set up by Tehran to oversee traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

From BBC • May 28, 2026

Early in the war, the Pentagon held up delivery of 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles to Japan, rerouting them to the Persian Gulf region.

From Slate • May 27, 2026

News reports indicate the deal framework would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, allowing Persian Gulf crude to resume flowing through the waterway.

From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026

Rubio was not entirely away from Iranian influence at the Taj Mahal, whose domes and four-way charbagh gardens are heavily influenced by Persian architecture.

From Barron's • May 25, 2026

First, you have to know about Shahryar, who was a Persian king—not in true history, but in myth history.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri