arya
|ar-ya|
🇺🇸
/ˈɑr.jə/
🇬🇧
/ˈɑːr.jə/
noble (person); honorable
Etymology
'arya' originates from Sanskrit, specifically the word 'ārya', where the root 'ārya' meant 'noble' or 'honorable'.
'arya' entered English usage via scholarly transliteration from Sanskrit and comparative philology in the 19th century; related older forms include Avestan 'airya' and Old Persian 'ariya'.
Initially it meant 'noble' or 'member of a noble/ respected group', but over time it has also been used as an ethnonym ('Aryan') and as a modern personal name.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a personal name (given name), often feminine; e.g., the name borne by literary or fictional characters.
arya has become a widely used given name in recent decades.
Synonyms
Noun 2
a term from Sanskrit (ārya) meaning 'noble' or 'honorable', used in religious and historical texts to denote a person of noble character or status.
In early Buddhist texts, arya often denotes someone who has reached a noble spiritual status.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Noun 3
an ancient ethnonym/self-designation of Indo-Iranian peoples (the root of the word 'Aryan') used in historical and linguistic contexts.
Linguists trace the ethnonym arya across several Indo-Iranian languages.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/10/13 12:38