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

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
• trans-Persian
  adjective
• pseudo-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

Your mom is a well-known scholar of Persian food.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026

Go with him inside this covert maritime network to see how the trade in sanctioned Iranian oil continues thousands of miles from the Persian Gulf.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026

“Short-haul transport of methanol from Iran to the rest of the Persian Gulf; crew change in Dubai,” said one advertisement posted this month by a ship management company in the city of Xi’an recruiting seafarers.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026

Meanwhile, the US Treasury on Wednesday sanctioned Iran's newly formed "Persian Gulf Strait Authority", set up by Tehran to oversee traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

From BBC • May 28, 2026

The video ended with Persian Jerry Espringer giving his final thought from a toilet seat.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi