Dictionary

Iran en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• /ɪˈɹɐːn/ (Australia)
• /ɪˈɾan/ (Wales)
• /ɪˈɹɑːn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• audio SSB
• /ɪˈɹɑːn/ (British, Southern, Standard)
• ē-rän′
• /ɪˈɹæn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• ē-răn′
• (US) audio
• /ɪˈɹɑn/ (Canada, US)
• /iːɹæn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio
• /ɪˈɹæn/ (Australia)
• ĭ-răn′
• /ɪˈɾan/ (Scotland)
• /iɹɑn/ (Canada, US)
• /ɪˈɹæn/ (Canada, US)
• ĭ-rän′
• /iːɹɑːn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ɪˈɾaːn/ (Wales)
• /aɪˈɹæn/ (Canada, US)
• /iɹæn/ (Canada, US)
• /ɪˈɹan/ (British, Southern, Standard)
• /əˈɹɐːn/ (New-Zealand)
• /əˈɹɛn/ (New-Zealand)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-Iranian *Áryas Proto-Iranian *Áryah Old Persian 𐎠𐎼𐎡𐎹 (a-r-i-y) Middle Persian 𐭠𐭩𐭫 (ʾyl) Middle Persian -ān Middle Persian 𐭠𐭩𐭥𐭠𐭭 (ʾyʿʾn) Iranian Persian ایران (Irân)bor. English Iran Borrowed from Iranian Persian ایران (Irân), from Classical Persian ایران (ērān), from Middle Persian 𐭠𐭩𐭥𐭠𐭭 (ʾērān, “of the Aryans”), which see for word formation, further etymology and cognates. The name of the political entity is a 3rd-century development that derives from the indigenous ethnolinguistic name of the Iranian peoples, i.e. the great variety of Iranian tribes that spoke an Iranian language. Doublet of Arya and Aryan.

Meanings

1. A country in West Asia. Official name: Islamic Republic of Iran. Capital: Tehran.
   • The US President himself accused Iran of being behind the provocation, threatening airstrikes on Iran last week – but calling them off just minutes before they were to begin. 2019 June 26, Frederik Pleitgen, Eliza Mackintosh, “US is ‘not in a position to obliterate Iran,’ Iranian foreign minister says”, in CNN, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2026:
   • "Iran is a vast and ancient country in a strategic location in the Middle East. It borders Russia, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, the Gulf of Oman, and the Persian Gulf." 2005, Massoume Price, editor, Iran's Diverse Peoples, ABC-Clio, page xiii:
   • Light was happiness; and the people of Iran, the land of light, were the favourites of heaven; while those of Turan, the gloomy region beyond the mountains to the north, were its enemies. 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 25:
   • The Persians, in naming their country, make use of one word, which they indifferently pronounce Iroun, and Iran. ca. 1675, Jean Chardin (Sir John Chardin), Travels in Persia, 1673-1677, fasc. reprint 1988, Dover, page 126
2. (literary) The regions inhabited by the Iranian peoples.
   • "Zoroaster of Iran. — Zoroaster, it is believed, sprang up in the seventh century before the Christian era, somewhere in the land between the Indus and the Tigris." 1898, A. V. W. Jackson, Zoroaster: The Prophet of Ancient Iran, Macmillan, page 10:
   • "Kavi means a king, but it is particularly used of the kings belonging to the second and most celebrated of the two mythical dynasties of Iran." "One certain fact is the occurrence of geographical names [Bactria, Sogdiana, etc] in Vendidad I, which are obviously intended to describe the earliest homes of the Iranian races whose lore was the Avesta." 1882, James Darmesteter, The Zend-Avesta, volume 1 (SBE, volume 31), Oxford UP, page 7, xxviii
   • "[W]e may surmise that there was a strong sense of Iranian unity lending solidarity to the eastern half of the empire. It is only in the generations after Alexander, in Eudemus and in Eratosthenes (ap. Strabo), that we find mention of the concept of a greater nation of Iran (Arianē) stretching from the Zagros to the Indus; but the sense of unity must have been there, for Herodotus tells us that the Medes were formerly called Arioi, and Darius I (followed by Xerxes) in his inscriptions proclaims himself an Iranian (Ariya) by race - he speaks of himself in ascending order as an Achaemenid, a Persian and an Iranian (Naqsh-i Rustam)." 1985, J. M. Cooke, “The Rise of the Achaemenids”, in Cambridge Historiy of Iran, volume 2, page 290:
   • "[The] Cambridge History of Iran [is] a survey of the history and historical geography of the land which is present-day Iran, as well as other territories inhabited by peoples of Iranian descent." 1990, Hubert Darke, “Cambridge History of Iran”, in Encyclopedia Iranica, volume 4, page 724:
   • "Iran. in early times, the name applied to the great Asiatic plateau which comprised the entire region from the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea, and Russian Turkestan on the north to the Tigris, the Persian Gulf, and the Arabian Sea on the west and south, and extending to the Indus on the east, likewise comprising the modern Afghanistan and the territory to the north of it as far as the Jaxartes River." 1909, “Iran”, in John Huston Finley, editor, Nelson's Perpetual Loose-leaf Encyclopaedia, volume 6, page 479:

Forms

Deriveds

Iranologist · Iranianize · Pahlavian Iran · Iranize · Iranianization · Iranophobia · Iranophone · Imperial State of Iran · Iranophile · Greater Iran · Iranophobic · Pahlavi Iran · Iranic · Iranophilia · Iranism · Irano- · Iranization · Iranophobe · iranite · Iranology · Iranist · Iranify · Irangate · Iranification

Relateds

Persia · Iranian

Translations (157)

ce Иран (country in West Asia) · ltg Irans (country in West Asia) · mzn ایران (country in West Asia) · ks ایٖران (country in West Asia) · uz Eron (country in West Asia) · am ኢራን (country in West Asia) · fo Iran (country in West Asia) · ja イラン (country in West Asia) · mi Īrāna (country in West Asia) · av Ира́н (country in West Asia) · hi ईरान (country in West Asia) · sl Iran (country in West Asia) · id Iran (country in West Asia) · ccp 𑄄𑄢𑄚𑄴 (country in West Asia) · ga an Iaráin (country in West Asia) · ccp 𑄃𑄨𑄢𑄚𑄴 (country in West Asia) · sq Irani (country in West Asia) · vi I-ran (country in West Asia) · nrf Iraun (country in West Asia) · tt Иран (country in West Asia) · de Iran (country in West Asia) · sh Ѝра̄н (country in West Asia) · vo Lirän (country in West Asia) · az İran (country in West Asia) · es Irán (country in West Asia) · nl Iran (country in West Asia) · sc Iran (country in West Asia) · uk Іра́н (country in West Asia) · my အီရန် (country in West Asia) · th อิหร่าน (country in West Asia) · hi फारस (country in West Asia) · kk Иран (country in West Asia) · he אִירָאן (country in West Asia) · xpr 𐭀𐭓𐭉𐭀𐭍 (country in West Asia) · fa ایرَان (country in West Asia) · ti ኢራን (country in West Asia) · ba Иран (country in West Asia) · crh İran (country in West Asia) · si ඉරානය (country in West Asia) · gl Irán (country in West Asia) · fa ایرَان (country in West Asia) · da Iran (country in West Asia) · zh 伊朗 (country in West Asia) · ha Iran (country in West Asia) · et Iraan (country in West Asia) · yue 伊朗 (country in West Asia) · mn ᠢᠷᠠᠨ (country in West Asia) · lo ອີຣານ (country in West Asia) · af Iran (country in West Asia) · la Irania (country in West Asia) · zh 伊朗 (country in West Asia) · arc ܐܝܖܐܢ (country in West Asia) · gcf Iwan (country in West Asia) · arc ܐܝܪܐܢ (country in West Asia) · ko 이란 (country in West Asia) · ur اِیران (country in West Asia) · os Иран (country in West Asia) · ckb ئێران (country in West Asia) · hak 伊朗 (country in West Asia) · kn ಇರಾನ್ (country in West Asia) · sat ᱤᱨᱟᱱ (country in West Asia) · mk Иран (country in West Asia) · ast Irán (country in West Asia) · bo ཡི་ལང (country in West Asia) · luy Iran (country in West Asia) · co Iran (country in West Asia) · or ଇରାନ (country in West Asia) · vi Y Lãng (country in West Asia) · ar إِيرَان (country in West Asia) · pa ਇਰਾਨ (country in West Asia) · am የኢራን (country in West Asia) · pt-br Irã (country in West Asia) · sa ईरान (country in West Asia) · ky Эрен (country in West Asia) · cdo 伊朗 (country in West Asia) · fr Iran (country in West Asia) · cs Írán (country in West Asia) · wuu 伊朗 (country in West Asia) · sv Iran (country in West Asia) · ml ഇറാൻ (country in West Asia) · bg Ира́н (country in West Asia) · nrf Iran (country in West Asia) · ky Иран (country in West Asia) · eo Irano (country in West Asia) · is Íran (country in West Asia) · kmr Îran (country in West Asia) · be Іра́н (country in West Asia) · xal Хазлвш (country in West Asia) · hy Իրան (country in West Asia) · pal 𐭠𐭩𐭥𐭠𐭭 (country in West Asia) · ka ირანი (country in West Asia) · ta இரான் (country in West Asia) · ady Иран (country in West Asia) · as ইৰান (country in West Asia) · tl Iran (country in West Asia) · ug ئىران (country in West Asia) · sq Iran (country in West Asia) · pl Iran (country in West Asia) · gu ઈરાન (country in West Asia) · ne इरान (country in West Asia) · haw ʻIlana (country in West Asia) · shn ဢီႊရၼ်ႊ (country in West Asia) · mn Иран (country in West Asia) · lo ອີລ່ານ (country in West Asia) · lv Irāna (country in West Asia) · sk Irán (country in West Asia) · it Iran (country in West Asia) · te ఇరాన్ (country in West Asia) · dz ཨི་རཱན་ (country in West Asia) · ta ஈரான் (country in West Asia) · km អ៊ីរ៉ង់ (country in West Asia) · el Ιράν (country in West Asia) · sh Ìrān (country in West Asia) · ro Iran (country in West Asia) · gag İran (country in West Asia) · nb Iran (country in West Asia) · mer Iran (country in West Asia) · aii ܐܝܼܪܵܢ (country in West Asia) · nv Iiwą́ą́ (country in West Asia) · vi Ba Tư (country in West Asia) · tg Ирон (country in West Asia) · pa ایران (country in West Asia) · fa ایران (country in West Asia) · hu Irán (country in West Asia) · pt-pt Irão (country in West Asia) · yo Ìráànì (country in West Asia) · sw Uajemi (country in West Asia) · tg Эрон (country in West Asia) · ce Гӏажарийчоь (country in West Asia) · brh Írán (country in West Asia) · kln Iran (country in West Asia) · yi איראַן (country in West Asia) · tr İran (country in West Asia) · mr इराण (country in West Asia) · ca Iran (country in West Asia) · sd ايران (country in West Asia) · co Iranu (country in West Asia) · kam Iran (country in West Asia) · ota ایران (country in West Asia) · fi Iran (country in West Asia) · hi पारस (country in West Asia) · fa اِیرَان (country in West Asia) · tk Eýran (country in West Asia) · kbd Къажэрей (country in West Asia) · ia Iran (country in West Asia) · br Iran (country in West Asia) · bn ইরান (country in West Asia) · mt l-Iran (country in West Asia) · nn Iran (country in West Asia) · lt Iranas (country in West Asia) · ru Ира́н (country in West Asia) · ki Iran (country in West Asia) · pal 𐭠𐭩𐭥𐭠𐭭𐭱𐭲𐭥𐭩 (country in West Asia) · ab Џьамтәыла (country in West Asia) · ms Iran (country in West Asia) · xwo ᡍᠠᠴᠠᠯᡋᠠᠱ (country in West Asia) · ps ايران (country in West Asia)