PERSIA

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Persia mean? 

• PERSIA (noun)
  The noun PERSIA has 2 senses:

1. an empire in southern Asia created by Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BC and destroyed by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC

2. 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: PERSIA used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PERSIA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An empire in southern Asia created by Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BC and destroyed by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

Persia; Persian Empire

Instance hypernyms:

empire; imperium (the domain ruled by an emperor or empress; the region over which imperial dominion is exercised)

Domain member region:

peri ((Persian folklore) a supernatural being descended from fallen angels and excluded from paradise until penance is done)

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

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)

Sense 2

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 "Persia"):

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 "Persia"):

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 ("Persia" 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 ("Persia" 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:

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

 Context examples 

I then passed through Persia, looked in at Mecca, and paid a short but interesting visit to the Khalifa at Khartoum the results of which I have communicated to the Foreign Office.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He handed over the book, and I read, Moran, Sebastian, Colonel. Unemployed. Formerly 1st Bangalore Pioneers. Born London, 1840. Son of Sir Augustus Moran, C.B., once British Minister to Persia. Educated Eton and Oxford. Served in Jowaki Campaign, Afghan Campaign, Charasiab (despatches), Sherpur, and Cabul. Author of Heavy Game of the Western Himalayas (1881); Three Months in the Jungle (1884). Address: Conduit Street. Clubs: The Anglo-Indian, the Tankerville, the Bagatelle Card Club.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)