Word.ws English Dictionary

Parthian

/ˈpɑːθɪən/US/ˈpɑɹθiən/

Parthian adjective: relating to Parthia or Parthians.

Adjective

Parthian (not comparable)

  1. Relating to Parthia or Parthians.
    • The king’s cavalry are also trained to an exercise called the keykaj, which consists in turning about on the saddle at full speed and firing a carbine backward. This they learn from their childhood, and it gives them great confidence and dexterity on horseback. It is probably a remnant of the old...1828, Frederic Shoberl, Persia, Part 4, Chapter XII: Amusements and Exercises
    • Midway in the mound is a platform of large bricks stamped with the names of Sargon of Akkad and his son Naram-Sin (3800 B.C.); as the débris above them is 34 ft. thick, the topmost stratum being not later than the Parthian era (H. V. Hilprecht, The Babylonian Expedition, i. 2, p. 23), it is...1911, Babylonia and Assyria: Modern Discovery, article in Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
  2. Delivered as if in retreat.
    • a Parthian shot
    • So that poor Brunout has nothing for it but to retreat with accelerated nimbleness, through rank after rank; Parthian-like, fencing as he flies1837, Thomas Carlyle, chapter VII, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume I (The Bastille), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book VII (The Insurrection of Women), page 266

Noun

Parthian (plural Parthians)

  1. A native or inhabitant of Parthia.
    • The Parthians, in whose hands the empire of the east now is, having divided the world, as it were, with the Romans, were originally exiles from Scythia. This is apparent from their very name; for in the Scythian language exiles are called Parthi.1853 [c. 2nd c. AD], Justin, “History of the World, Extracted from Trogus Pompeius”, in J[ohn].S[elby]. Watson, transl., Justin, Cornelius Nepos, and Eutropius, tr. with notes by J.S. Watson, London...
    Synonyms:
    Parth
  2. An extinct Western Iranian language that was spoken in Parthia.

Parthian meaning in Hindi, Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian

Parthian in Hindi

relating to Parthia
पहलवी pahlavī, पह्लव pahlav, पहलू pahlū

Parthian in Sanskrit

relating to Parthia
पह्लव pahlava

Parthian in Arabic

relating to Parthia
فَرْثِيّ farṯiyy
person
فَرْثِيّ farṯiyy, فَرْثِيَّة farṯiyya
language
اللُّغَةُ الْفَرْثِيَّة al-luḡatu l-farṯiyya

Parthian in Persian

person
پارتی
language
پارتی

Examples of Parthian in a sentence

  • Pendennis!” transfixing Harry with a Parthian shot, as she fled from him.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter VII, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and...
  • But the sun’s Parthian arrows gave him a splendid triumph, more signal for its evanescence.1863, Theodore Winthrop, Life in the Open Air, Chapter I:
  • With which Parthian shot he walked away, leaving the two rivals open-mouthed behind him.1887, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet”, in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward, Lock & Co., part I (Being a...

Synonyms of Parthian

Forms of Parthian

pluralParthians

Origin of Parthian

From Parthia + -an; in the sense of delivered as if in retreat, an allusion to the Parthian battle tactic of firing arrows backwards from horseback while apparently in retreat.

Words formed from Parthian

Phrases with Parthian

Words that rhyme with Parthian

Questions about Parthian

What does Parthian mean?
Parthian means relating to Parthia or Parthians.
What is Parthian in Hindi?
Parthian in Hindi is पहलवी (pahlavī), पह्लव (pahlav), पहलू (pahlū). See Parthian meaning in Hindi.
How do you use Parthian in a sentence?
Pendennis!” transfixing Harry with a Parthian shot, as she fled from him.
What part of speech is Parthian?
Parthian can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce Parthian?
Parthian is pronounced /ˈpɑːθɪən/ (UK).

Words near Parthian in the dictionary

  1. parthenospores
  2. parthenosporophyte
  3. parthenote
  4. parthenotes
  5. Parthia
  6. Parthian
  7. Parthian Empire
  8. Parthian shot
  9. Parthian shots
  10. Parthians
  11. Parthiv

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Parthian (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Parthian.wav.

Cite this entry: “Parthian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/parthian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.