Aryan

[ air-ee-uhn, air-yuhn, ar- ]

/ ˈɛər i ən, ˈɛər yən, ˈær- /

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noun

Ethnology. a member or descendant of the prehistoric people who spoke Indo-European.

(in Nazi doctrine) a non-Jewish Caucasian, especially of Nordic stock.

(formerly) Indo-European.

(formerly) Indo-Iranian.

adjective

of or relating to an Aryan or the Aryans.

(formerly) Indo-European.

(formerly) Indo-Iranian.

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Also Ar·i·an

[air-ee-uhn, ar‐] /ˈɛər i ən, ˈær‐/ .

Origin of Aryan

First recorded in 1785–95; from Sanskrit ārya “of high rank” (adjective), “aristocrat” (noun) + -an

OTHER WORDS FROM Aryan

non-Ar·y·an, noun, adjectivepre-Ar·y·an, adjectivepseu·do-Ar·y·an, adjective, noun

Words nearby Aryan

A.R.V., Arvada, ARVN, arvo, ary, Aryan, Aryanize, aryballos, aryballus, aryepiglottic, aryl

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Aryan in a sentence

Ultimately, that transformation was in the service of their imagined Aryan empire and their role as its masters.
Nazi-Occupied Norway Offers a Glimpse of What Hitler Wanted for the Entire World|Despina Stratigakos|September 2, 2020|Time
Occupied Norway became a locus of the Lebensborn program, initiated in Germany by SS leader Heinrich Himmler in 1935 to encourage the birth of Aryan babies.
Nazi-Occupied Norway Offers a Glimpse of What Hitler Wanted for the Entire World|Despina Stratigakos|September 2, 2020|Time
The region is marketed for visitors as “Aryan Valley,” and many citizens have taken to tacking on “Aryan” to their last names.
The Himalayas’ Hidden Aryans|Nina Strochlic|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This was later repurposed in Europe as an explanation for racial superiority, and the term “Aryan” came to define a white race.
The Himalayas’ Hidden Aryans|Nina Strochlic|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST

His work was more monumental, more violent, and promoted the Aryan struggle.
Top Nazis And Their Complicated Relationship With Artists|William O’Connor|November 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Aryan race was superior, the Jews were the enemy, and the Jews had to be destroyed.
Ron Rosenbaum on Hitler, Hollywood, and Quantifying Evil|William O’Connor|July 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And white supremacists continue to advocate for a homeland in the Pacific Northwest for “the Aryan peoples of the earth.”
One U.S. Constitution Just Wasn’t Enough|Tom Arnold-Forster|July 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He would have wrested race supremacy and the leading place in civilization from the Aryan for the Hamitic races.
The Two Great Republics: Rome and the United States|James Hamilton Lewis
What anthropologist accepts the theory of Aryan overland immigration from somewhere in Asia?
Archaic England|Harold Bayley
Among the Aryan nations an meant mind, and this term is clearly responsible for inane or without ane.
Archaic England|Harold Bayley
The Aryan fire worshippers cremated their dead so that the spirits might be transferred by fire to Paradise.
Myths of Babylonia and Assyria|Donald A. Mackenzie
They had developed the religious sense, beyond any of the Aryan peoples.
The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 03|Various

British Dictionary definitions for Aryan

Aryan

Arian

/ (ˈɛərɪən) /

noun

(in Nazi ideology) a Caucasian of non-Jewish descent, esp of the Nordic type

a member of any of the peoples supposedly descended from the Indo-Europeans, esp a speaker of an Iranian or Indic language in ancient times

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of an Aryan or Aryans

adjective, noun

archaic Indo-European

Word Origin for Aryan

C19: from Sanskrit ārya of noble birth

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012