Parsi
/ˈpɑːsiː/
"parsi" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Parsi” is uncommon English (frequency #63,872 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #63,872
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A member of the larger and older of the two Zoroastrian communities of the Indian subcontinent (the other community being that of the Iranis).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Parsi |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɑːsiː/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #63,872 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Parsi” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Parsi is uncommon English at frequency #63,872 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɑːsiː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A member of the larger and older of the two Zoroastrian communities of the Indian subcontinent (the other community being that of the Iranis).".
Parsi doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Gujarati પારસી (pārsī), "as the Gujaratis, from long tradition, called anyone from Iran", from Sanskrit पारसि (pārasi), पारसिक (pārasika), from Middle Persian [Term?]. The Indian term is attested many centuries prior to the arrival of the Pars… The correct English form is Parsi, spelled P-A-R-S-I.
Definition
- 1A member of the larger and older of the two Zoroastrian communities of the Indian subcontinent (the other community being that of the Iranis).
Etymology
Borrowed from Gujarati પારસી (pārsī), "as the Gujaratis, from long tradition, called anyone from Iran", from Sanskrit पारसि (pārasi), पारसिक (pārasika), from Middle Persian [Term?]. The Indian term is attested many centuries prior to the arrival of the Parsis on the Indian subcontinent, and appears both for Iranians generally, as well as in the specific Iranian sense of Middle Persian parsi(k) ("of, or pertaining to, Persia proper") to refer to Sassanian kings, e.g. in the 4th-century Mahabharata. The Indian term is thus conventionally assumed to be ultimately a loanword from Middle Persian (or general Middle Iranian) parsi(k). In colonial times the term was also applied to the Portuguese, and by extension to Europeans in general. Older texts have pārasā́rya "Perso-Iranian", etc. Other Iranian ethnonyms found in the Mahabharata include Sanskrit pahlava, pahnava "Parthian(s)", sāka "(eastern) Scythian(s)", bāhlika "Bactrian(s)".
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “Parsi”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-R-S-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɑːsiː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.