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• Ian
  Ian

  noun

  a male given name, Scottish form of John.
• -ian
  -ian

  a suffix with the same meaning and properties as -an, though -ian is now the more productive of the two suffixes in recent coinages, especially when the base noun ends in a consonant: Orwellian; Washingtonian .

Ian

¹ American  

[ee-uhn, ee-ahn, ahy-uhn] / ˈi ən, ˈi ɑn, ˈaɪ ən /

noun

1. a male given name, Scottish form of John.

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-ian ² American  

1. a suffix with the same meaning and properties as -an, though -ian is now the more productive of the two suffixes in recent coinages, especially when the base noun ends in a consonant: Orwellian; Washingtonian .

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-ian British  

suffix

1. a variant of -an

   Etonian

   Johnsonian

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Etymology

Origin of -ian

Extracted from Latin loanwords in which -ānus (adjective suffix) is joined to stems ending in i; see -an

Example Sentences

BP said Ian Tyler would take over as chairman on an interim basis.

From Barron's • May 26, 2026

BP said Tuesday board member Ian Tyler would take over from Manifold as chairman on an interim basis.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

District Judge Ian Strongman described John Price's actions as "ecological vandalism on an industrial scale" when he sent him to prison in May 2023.

From BBC • May 26, 2026

Ian Tyler, currently chair of building materials firm Grafton Group and senior independent director at mining giant Anglo American, will take over as interim chair while the firm searches for a permanent successor.

From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026

Theo let me sit in the front seat, but even then it felt like Evan and Ian were too close.

From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia