Persian

American  

[pur-zhuhn, -shuhn] / ˈpɜr ʒən, -ʃən /

adjective

1. of or relating to ancient and recent Persia (now Iran), its people, or their language.

---

noun

• Persians
  plural

1. a member of the native peoples of Iran, descended in part from the ancient Iranians.

2. a citizen of ancient Persia.

3. an Iranian language, the principal language of Iran and western Afghanistan, in its historical and modern forms.

4. Architecture. a figure of a man used as a column.

5. Persians. Persian blinds.

Persian British  

/ ˈpɜːʃən /

adjective

1. of or relating to ancient Persia or modern Iran, their inhabitants, or their languages

---

noun

1. a native, citizen, or inhabitant of modern Iran; an Iranian

2. a member of an Indo-European people of West Iranian speech who established a great empire in SW Asia in the 6th century _bc

3. the language of Iran or Persia in any of its ancient or modern forms, belonging to the West Iranian branch of the Indo-European family See also Avestan Old Persian Pahlavi 2 Farsi

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pre-Persian
  adjective
• pseudo-Persian
  adjective
• trans-Persian
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Persians
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Persian

First recorded in 1325–75; Persi(a) + -an; replacing Middle English Persien, from Middle French; replacing Old English Persisc ( -ish ¹ )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Persian Persians

The two cultures separated by the narrow Persian Gulf have ties dating back centuries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

The art of fine carpet weaving was introduced in the Himalayan valley of Kashmir in the 15th century by Persian travellers, and received patronage during the reign of its last local king Zain-ul-Abidin Budshah.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

I was surrounded by kids of all ethnicities at school, from Black to white to Persian to Vietnamese.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

On 15 April, police were called to the offices of Volant Media in Park Royal, the parent company of Persian news channel Iran International, after an "ignited container" was thrown towards the site.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

One of my favorite Persian dishes, consisting of rice with saffron, chicken, and barberries.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

At last, with the sons of Israel, he turned his might on the Persians, the enemy who had caused great suffering.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026

Kurds, while mostly Sunni, share cultural and linguistic affinities with Persians and have historically had less friction with the Iranian state than with fellow Kurds in Iraq and Turkey.

From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026

Persians, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Baha’is and those of every background were entitled to live in peace.

From Salon ● Jan. 22, 2026

The Persians used water and flour to make the bread, which was most-likely baked on hot pebbles.

From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025

Greece would defeat the Persians; Greek philosophy would never quite defeat Zeno—for Zeno had a paradox, a logical puzzle that seemed intractable to the reasoning of Greek philosophers.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife