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

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

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

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

Instead of putting American forces in the Persian Gulf, where they are vulnerable to attack, the U.S. has set up a defensive zone, or “net,” in the Gulf of Oman.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

Like this street, that square is also named after a much-loved Persian poet.

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026

But he does see a pathway for oil flows out of the Persian Gulf to return to prewar levels in the next few months.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 22, 2026

Despite prolific posting on X in English and Persian, Ghalibaf has rarely been seen in public in Iran during the war.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

One sketch included a party sequence where we imitated our parents, but our masterpiece was the Persian Jerry Springer Show.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi