Syrian

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. A descriptor for people originating from the nation of Syria; Associated with the customs, dialect, or historical background specific to this area in the Middle East; Identifying members of the various ethnicities or populations that inhabit Syria today
2. Connected to the nation of Syria, its culture, language, or inhabitants
3. Pertaining to anything associated with Syria, including its society and heritage

Etymology: The name "Syria" itself is much older than the country it now labels. The Greeks, who wrote "Sŭrĭ́ā", borrowed it from an earlier shorthand for the Assyrians: the Akkadian "Aššūr" (the Assyrian homeland and god) passed into Greek as "Assuría" and was later clipped to "Sŭrĭ́ā". The Romans adopted that Greek form as "Syria", and the English word came by way of Middle English "Sirie". So an adjective used today for people from modern Syria carries a name that once pointed to a different empire on the Tigris. "Syrian" is formed from that place name by adding the suffix "-an", which English took from Latin "-ānus" through Old French "-ain". The suffix simply means "belonging to" or "from", so the word works like "Roman" or "Italian" does for their countries. It is a straightforward derivation, and its meaning has stayed close to the literal sense: a person or thing connected with the land of Syria.

Synonyms: Syriac, Damascene