Persians

Noun

Persian (plural Persians)

1. (historical) A native or inhabitant of the historical polity of Persia (for example, any of the various Persian empires).
   • The Persians (including the Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Syrians, Phœnicians, Jews, and Egyptians), in contrast to the foregoing, possess a germ of historical development, […]1892, Benjamin Chapman Burt, A History of Modern Philosophy, page 111
2. (dated) An Iranian (person from Iran).
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.
   • Recruits [to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps] tended to be ethnic Persians or Azeris between the ages of 17 and 28 and generally hailed from poorer or religious families.2016, J. Kechichian, Iran, Iraq and the Arab Gulf States, page 38
4. (Canada, Northwestern, Ontario) A pastry local to the Thunder Bay region in Canada often compared to either a cinnamon bun or a donut topped with pink icing.
5. A sheep of the Blackhead Persian breed.
6. A thin silk fabric, formerly used for linings.
   • There is of those Persians several lengths.1696, J. F. Merchant?, The merchant's ware-house laid open

See all 12 meanings of Persian