Asian

How to spell asian

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce asian

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does asian mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to the continent of Asia or its peoples, cultures, and languages.
2. nounA person who is from Asia or of Asian descent.

Asian in a sentence

• adjective

  The restaurant specialises in asian cuisine from several countries.

• noun

  As a proud asian, she shared stories of her grandparents' village.

• adjective

  The museum opened a new wing devoted to asian art and sculpture.

• noun

  The survey grouped respondents by background, including each asian who took part.

Where does asian come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word is built on the place name Asia combined with the suffix -an, which Latin used to mean 'belonging to' or 'coming from'. Asia itself reaches English through Latin from the Greek Asia, a name the Greeks first applied to the lands east of the Aegean Sea and in particular to the region of Lydia in what is now Turkey. The ultimate root is debated, but many scholars connect it to an Akkadian or Phoenician word meaning roughly 'sunrise' or 'the east', the direction from which the sun appears to rise. Over the centuries the name expanded enormously, from a small western coastal district to the entire vast continent we know today. The adjective form asian entered English in the late 1500s, and its spelling trap is simply the -sian ending, where the single s carries a soft 'zh' or 'sh' sound that tempts writers toward extra letters.

How the word is built

• Asia (the continent)
• -an (adjective/noun suffix meaning 'belonging to')