Assyrian

From Assur, the original capital city of Assyria.

• enPR: ə-sĭrʹē-ən, IPA^(key): /əˈsɪɹi.ən/
• Hyphenation: As‧syr‧i‧an
• Rhymes: -ɪɹiən

Assyrian (plural Assyrians)

1. (historical) A person who resided in the ancient region on the Upper Tigris river, with capital city of Assur.
2. (historical) A citizen of an ancient nation and empire, including the northern half of Mesopotamia, with capital city of Nineveh.
3. A member of a traditionally Christian ethnic group originating in the Middle East, who identify as descendants of the ancient Assyrians.

Assyrian (not comparable)

1. (historical) Of or pertaining to the ancient region on the Upper Tigris river, with capital city of Assur.
2. (historical) Of, or characteristic of, or pertaining to the ancient nation and empire, including the northern half of Mesopotamia, with capital city of Nineveh.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 113-114:

     There is a languor in the air which encourages your own, and the poetry of memory is in every drooping flower and falling leaf. The very magnificence of its Assyrian array is touched with the light of imagination: even while you watch it, it passes away as your brightest hopes have done before.

3. Of or pertaining to the Assyrian people.

Assyrian

1. Any Syriac language spoken by Assyrian peoples, particularly Assyrian Neo-Aramaic.
2. A dialect of Akkadian spoken in ancient Assyria.

• Assyrianness
• Neo-Assyrian

• Babylonian
• Mesopotamian
• Syrian

• Sirayans