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Persian

/ˈpɝʒən/adjective, noun

Persian is spelled P-E-R-S-I-A-N: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, Persian means “Of, from, or pertaining to Persia” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in Persian?

Letters7: P-E-R-S-I-A-N
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing6.8 times per million words; the 9,165th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is Persian?

Persian appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce Persian?

  • UK /ˈpɜː.ʒən/
  • US /ˈpɝʒən/
  • /ˈpɜː(ɹ)ʃən/

As an adjective (“Of or pertaining to Persius (Roman writer)”): /ˈpɜː(ɹ)si.ən/, /ˈpɜː(ɹ)ʃən/.

Persian has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Persian.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with Persian?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as Persian from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹʒən/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of Persian

  • more Persian comparative
  • most Persian superlative
  • Persians plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does Persian mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Of, from, or pertaining to Persia.

  2. 2

    Of or pertaining to the Persian people.

  3. 3

    Of or pertaining to the Persian language.

  4. 4

    Of or pertaining to Persius (Roman writer)

noun

  1. 1

    A native or inhabitant of the historical polity of Persia (for example, any of the various Persian empires).

  2. 2

    datedAn Iranian (person from Iran).

  3. 3

    A member of the ethnic group indigenous to Persis and the Iranian plateau that forms the majority of the population of modern-day Iran.

  4. 4

    Ellipsis of Persian cat.

  5. 5

    CanadaA pastry local to the Thunder Bay region in Canada often compared to either a cinnamon bun or a donut topped with pink icing.

  6. 6

    A sheep of the Blackhead Persian breed.

  7. 7

    A thin silk fabric, formerly used for linings.

  8. 8

    Any of a set of male figures used instead of columns to support an entablature.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Persian in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpersan, perse (of, from, or pertaining to Persia), Perse, Persan, Persane (person from Persis)
Germanpersisch (of, from, or pertaining to Persia), Perser, Perserin (person from Persis), Perserkatze (Persian cat)
Portuguesepersa, pérsico, pérseo (of, from, or pertaining to Persia)
Spanishpersa (person from Persis), gato persa (Persian cat)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does Persian come from?

From Middle English Persien, from Middle French persien, from Italian persiano, from Medieval Latin Persiānus, from Persia (itself from Persēs/Persa (“Persian man”) [from Ancient Greek Πέρσης (Pérsēs), itself from Old Persian 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿 (p-a-r-s /⁠Pārsa⁠/, “Persian”)] + -ia (suffix forming country names)) + -iānus. Equivalent to Pers(ia) + -ian. Compare Early Classical Persian پارس (pārs) or modern Iranian Persian فارس (fârs), where the shift p > f.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after Persian