IRAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Iran mean? 

• IRAN (noun)
  The noun IRAN has 1 sense:

1. a theocratic Islamic republic in the Middle East in western Asia; Iran was the core of the ancient empire that was known as Persia until 1935; rich in oil

  Familiarity information: IRAN used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IRAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A theocratic Islamic republic in the Middle East in western Asia; Iran was the core of the ancient empire that was known as Persia until 1935; rich in oil

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

Iran; Islamic Republic of Iran; Persia

Instance hypernyms:

Asian country; Asian nation (any one of the nations occupying the Asian continent)

Meronyms (parts of "Iran"):

Rasht; Resht (city in northwestern Iran near the Caspian Sea)

Caspian; Caspian Sea (a large saltwater lake between Iran and Russia fed by the Volga River; the largest inland body of water in the world)

Demavend (an active volcano in northern Iran)

Dasht-e-Lut; Lut Desert (a desert in eastern Iran)

Dasht-e-Kavir; Great Salt Desert; Kavir Desert (a salt desert in north central Iran)

Kurdistan (an extensive geographical region in the Middle East to the south of the Caucasus)

Persepolis (an ancient city that was the capital of the ancient Persian Empire; now in ruins)

Qum (a city in northwestern Iran; a place of pilgrimage for Shiite Muslims)

Orumiyeh; Urmia (a city on the western side of Lake Urmia in northwestern Iran)

Tabriz (an ancient city in northwestern Iran; known for hot springs)

Shiraz (a city in central southwestern Iran; ruins of ancient Persepolis are nearby)

Aspadana; Esfahan; Isfahan (city in central Iran; former capital of Persia)

Mashhad; Meshed (the holy city of Shiite Muslims; located in northeastern Iran)

Bam (an ancient city in southeastern Iran; destroyed by an earthquake in 2003)

Abadan (a port city in southwestern Iran)

capital of Iran; Iranian capital; Teheran; Tehran (the capital and largest city of Iran; located in northern Iran)

Daryacheh-ye Orumiyeh; Lake Urmia; Urmia (a shallow saline lake in northwestern Iran between Tabriz and the western border of Turkey)

Meronyms (members of "Iran"):

Irani; Iranian; Persian (a native or inhabitant of Iran)

Domain member region:

Usuli (a religious movement by Persian Shiite Muslims in 17th century Iran that is opposed to the Akhbari)

MEK; MKO; Mujahidin-e Khalq Organization; People's Mujahidin of Iran (a terrorist organization formed in the 1960s by children of Iranian merchants; sought to counter the Shah of Iran's pro-western policies of modernization and opposition to communism; following a philosophy that mixes Marxism and Islam it now attacks the Islamic fundamentalists who deposed the Shah)

ayatollah (a high-ranking Shiite religious leader who is regarded as an authority on religious law and its interpretation and who has political power as well)

Holonyms ("Iran" is a part of...):

Middle East; Mideast; Near East (the area around the eastern Mediterranean; from Turkey to northern Africa and eastward to Iran; the site of such ancient civilizations as Phoenicia and Babylon and Egypt and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity and Islam; had continuous economic and political turmoil in the 20th century)

Gulf States (the countries in southwestern Asia that border the Persian Gulf)

Asia (the largest continent with 60% of the earth's population; it is joined to Europe on the west to form Eurasia; it is the site of some of the world's earliest civilizations)

Holonyms ("Iran" is a member of...):

OPEC; Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries (an organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the production and sale of petroleum)

Derivation:

Iranian (of or relating to Iran or its people or language or culture)

 Context examples 

Half of the fragments found will remain in Iran, with the other half already back at the test lab in Russia.

(Huge Haul of Extraterrestrial Material Recovered from Iranian Desert, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Denotes a person from any of the countries of southwest Asia and northeastern Africa; this region includes those countries east of Egypt and south of Turkey and extending to Iran in the east.

(Middle Eastern or North African, NCI Thesaurus)

Denotes the inhabitants of Iran, a person from there, or their descendants elsewhere.

(Iranian, NCI Thesaurus)

They are the survivors of the formerly extensive Aramaic- or Syriac- speaking Christian community of northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, and northwestern Iran.

(Assyrian, NCI Thesaurus)

A country in southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran.

(Afghanistan, CIA World Factbook)

A country in southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea, between India on the east and Iran and Afghanistan on the west and China in the north.

(Pakistan, NCI Thesaurus)

A country in southwestern Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Russia.

(Azerbaijan, NCI Thesaurus)

A country in Southwestern Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Russia.

(Azerbaijan, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Some cross political boundaries, such as the Caspian Sea, which is shared by Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan.

(Ancient lakes: eyes into the past, and the future, National Science Foundation)

Most of the remaining cheetahs live in most of Africa, more than half in southern Africa, while a subspecies is found in Asia, including a small part of Iran, though these are seem much more rarely.

(Around 7,100 cheetahs remain, say experts, Wikinews)