Definition of: Persian

(pûr′zhən, -shən) adjective
Of or pertaining to ancient Persia or modern Iran, its people, its language, or its architecture.
—noun
1. A native or inhabitant of Persia or Iran.
2. The Iranian language of the Persians: historically divided into Old Persian, recorded in the cuneiform inscriptions of Darius I and his successors, and closely related to the language of the Avesta; Middle Persian, chiefly represented by Pahlavi, a literary language written in a Semitic alphabet, used in the sacred writings of the Zoroastrian religion from the third to the seventh century; and Modern Persian, containing many Arabic loan words and written in Arabic script.
3. A fine silk used formerly for linings.
4. plural Persian blinds. [<OF persien, ult. <L Persia Persia <Gk. Persis <OPersian Pārsa]