aryans
|a-ry-ans|
🇺🇸
/ˈɛriənz/
🇬🇧
/ˈeəriənz/
(aryan)
originally 'noble' (Indo‑Iranian people); later racialized as 'superior race'
Etymology
'aryan' originates from Indo-Iranian languages, specifically the Sanskrit word 'ā́rya' and Avestan 'airya', where the root *arya- meant 'noble' or 'honorable'.
'aryan' passed into European languages via classical and 19th-century scholarship: the Sanskrit/ Avestan self-name 'ā́rya' was noted by philologists, adopted into 19th-century linguistic terminology to label related peoples/languages, and later was misappropriated and racialized in modern European ideologies.
Initially, it meant 'noble' or was a self-designation among Indo-Iranian peoples; over time it was extended by scholars to label language groups and then transformed into a politicized racial term meaning 'a superior white/Northern European type' in racist ideologies.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
members of ancient Indo-Iranian groups who called themselves ʻāryaʼ; used in historical/linguistic contexts to refer to early Indo-Aryan or Indo-Iranian peoples.
Some historians argue that the aryans migrated into the Indian subcontinent around 1500 BCE.
Synonyms
Noun 2
a 19th-century linguistic term used to refer broadly to speakers of certain Indo-European languages (later largely replaced by 'Indo-European'); used in older scholarly works.
Early philologists sometimes described Indo-European languages as belonging to the aryans.
Synonyms
Noun 3
a term used in racial ideology (especially by 19th–20th century racists and the Nazi movement) to denote a supposed 'superior' white or Northern European racial type; a politicized and pseudoscientific usage.
Propaganda falsely portrayed aryans as a superior race in Nazi ideology.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/10/13 16:22