Ionian

[ ahy-oh-nee-uhn ]

/ aɪˈoʊ ni ən /

Save This Word!

adjective

of or relating to Ionia.

of or relating to the branch of the Greek people named from Ion, their legendary founder.

noun

a member of one of the four main divisions of the prehistoric Greeks who invaded the Greek mainland and, after the Dorian invasions, emigrated to the Aegean islands and the coast of Asia Minor.Compare Achaean (def. 5), Aeolian² (def. 3), Dorian¹ (def. 2).

an Ionian Greek.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of Ionian

First recorded in 1555–65; Ioni(a) + -an

Words nearby Ionian

ion engine, Ionesco, ion exchange, ion generator, Ionia, Ionian, Ionian Islands, Ionian mode, Ionian Sea, ionic, ionic bond

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

How to use Ionian in a sentence

Consequently, the Ionian rebels were pitted against the contemporary superpower of the world.
Battle of Marathon: The Decisive Clash That Saved Ancient Greece|Dattatreya Mandal|September 11, 2022|Realm of History
Some of the Ionian dunes are over 30 meters high, the team estimates.
Lava and frost may form the mysterious lumps on Jupiter’s moon Io|Nikk Ogasa|May 3, 2022|Science News
Anaxagoras, born in the Ionian town of Clazomenae, was the first natural philosopher to reside in Athens and promote the Ionian philosophical outlook there.
2,500 years ago, the philosopher Anaxagoras brought science’s spirit to Athens|Tom Siegfried|May 4, 2021|Science News
We do not read of any remarkable philosophical inquirer until Thales arose, the first of the Ionian school.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I|John Lord

And the Ionian is open to the observation already made with regard to the Phrygian, viz.
The Modes of Ancient Greek Music|David Binning Monro
The Ionian, again, is perhaps merely an imperfect form of the same scale, viz.
The Modes of Ancient Greek Music|David Binning Monro
Plato treats the claim of Ionian to rank among the Hellenic modes as somewhat doubtful (Laches, p. 188).
The Modes of Ancient Greek Music|David Binning Monro
If Hypo-phrygian is the same as the older Ionian (p. 11), the coincidence is complete for the time of Aristotle.
The Modes of Ancient Greek Music|David Binning Monro

British Dictionary definitions for Ionian

Ionian

/ (aɪˈəʊnɪən) /

noun

a member of a Hellenic people who settled in Attica in about 1100 bc and later colonized the islands and E coast of the Aegean Sea

adjective

of or relating to this people or their dialect of Ancient Greek; Ionic

of or relating to Ionia

music relating to or denoting an authentic mode represented by the ascending natural diatonic scale from C to C and forming the basis of the modern major keySee also Hypo-

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