Iranian

Also I·ra·ni

[ih-rey-nee-uhn, ih-rah-, ahy-rey-]

adjective

1. of or relating to Iran, its inhabitants, or their language.

2. of or relating to the Iranian languages.

noun

1. a subbranch of the Indo-European family of languages, including especially Persian, Pashto, Avestan, and Kurdish.

2. an inhabitant of Iran; Persian.

Iranian

/ ɪˈreɪnɪən /

noun

1. a native, citizen, or inhabitant of Iran

2. a branch of the Indo-European family of languages, divided into West Iranian (including Old Persian, Pahlavi, modern Persian, Kurdish, Baluchi, and Tajik) and East Iranian (including Avestan, Sogdian, Pashto, and Ossetic)

3. Also: Persian.  Farsi. the modern Persian language

adjective

1. relating to, denoting, or characteristic of Iran, its inhabitants, or their language; Persian

2. belonging to or relating to the Iranian branch of Indo-European

Other Word Forms

• anti-Iranian adjective
• pro-Iranian adjective
• pseudo-Iranian adjective
• trans-Iranian adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Iranian¹

First recorded in 1835–45; Iran + -ian

Example Sentences

While the Iranian nuclear program was still intact and advancing toward a bomb?

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Neither protests nor Iranian escalation would cause him to rein in Israel.

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Or to refusing Iranian films because of Ayatollah Khamenei’s rhetoric or Iranian funding of terrorists.

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Americans should take heed of Israel’s solidarity and successes against Hezbollah, other Iranian proxies, and Iran itself in the past two years.

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The directive sought to drive Iranian oil exports to zero.

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