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.

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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

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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 Saudi leader has few good options, said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Persian Gulf expert and fellow with Rice University’s Baker Institute.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Pluskalowski has recently become obsessed with making a taco shell from tahdig, the scorched rice at the bottom of a pot of Persian rice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

UK Maritime Trade Operations said there had been nine attacks so far this month, half of all of September in the waterway and Persian Gulf combined.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

But auto-fuel sales fell 1.9%, as crude-oil prices climbed throughout the month on enduring uncertainty over hostilities in the Persian Gulf.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

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

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

Helots fed these high-caste soldiers and serviced their every need; one source reports that each Spartan who went into battle against the Persians was attended by seven helots.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 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

“You know how Persians make tea?” my mom would ask.

From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram