Aryan

American  

[air-ee-uhn, air-yuhn, ar-] / ˈɛər i ən, ˈɛər yən, ˈær- /

Also Arian

noun

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

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

3. (formerly) Indo-European.

4. (formerly) Indo-Iranian.

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adjective

1. of or relating to an Aryan or the Aryans.

2. (formerly) Indo-European.

3. (formerly) Indo-Iranian.

Aryan British  

/ ˈɛərɪən /

noun

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

2. 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

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adjective

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

adjective

1. archaic Indo-European

Other Word Forms

• non-Aryan noun
• pre-Aryan adjective
• pseudo-Aryan adjective

Etymology

Origin of Aryan

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

Example Sentences

Prominent Aryan Germans, by contrast, faced a moral dilemma: to stay in Nazi Germany or leave.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

Jesse Owens, an African-American track and field athlete, won four gold medals at the 1936 Games, crushing the Nazi myth of Aryan racial supremacy.

From BBC • Feb. 12, 2026

"But it's only as good as one season, so the negotiations are not a done job," said Pankaj Bedi, CEO of United Aryan in Nairobi.

From Barron's • Feb. 4, 2026

His wife and two children - Aryan and his elder sister - live in their ancestral village near the border between Gujarat and Rajasthan states.

From BBC • Jun. 17, 2025

Solomon spoke flawless German and convinced his SS captor that he was Aryan.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti