aryan
|a-ry-an|
🇺🇸
/ˈɛriən/
🇬🇧
/ˈeə.ri.ən/
originally 'noble' (Indo‑Iranian people); later racialized as 'superior race'
Etymology
'aryan' originates from Sanskrit and Avestan, specifically the Sanskrit word 'ā́rya' and the Avestan word 'airya', where the root meant 'noble' or 'honorable'.
'aryan' was adopted in 19th-century European linguistic study to label a group of Indo-European-speaking peoples; later in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the term was misapplied in racial theories and became associated with Nazi racial ideology before being widely discredited.
Initially, it meant 'noble' and identified a cultural/linguistic group; over time it was racialized to mean a biologically superior 'white' race, a usage now regarded as pseudoscientific and offensive.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a member of the ancient Indo-Iranian peoples originally described in early texts and later referenced in historical and linguistic scholarship.
19th-century scholars sometimes used 'aryan' to refer to ancient Indo-Iranian peoples.
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Noun 2
a person described (often in a racist or pseudoscientific context) as belonging to a supposed superior 'Aryan' race—a concept promoted by white supremacist and Nazi ideologies.
Nazi propaganda falsely claimed that 'aryan' people were biologically superior.
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Adjective 1
relating to the Aryans or to Aryanism; often used to describe doctrines, beliefs, or claims associated with racial theories (frequently offensive).
He distributed materials that promoted 'aryan' supremacist ideas.
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Adjective 2
relating to the early linguistic or cultural sense of 'arya' in Indo-Iranian texts (e.g., describing language, culture, or names derived from that root).
Researchers examined 'aryan' motifs in ancient Sanskrit inscriptions.
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Last updated: 2025/10/13 13:21