Parsee
/pɑːrˈsiː/noun
A member of a Zoroastrian community descended from Persians who settled in India.
Did you know?The name Parsee comes through Persian/Indic usage from the same root as Persian, and it became the English label for Zoroastrians in India long before scholars standardized the modern term Parsi.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
Persēs
“A Persian”
Old Persian
OP
Pārsa
“Persia; Persian”
Middle Persian
MP
Pārsīg
“Persian, especially from Fars”
Gujarati / Persian
Indic/Persian
Pārsī
“A Persian; later, a Zoroastrian of Persian descent in India”
18th-19th Century
English
Parsee
“English spelling for a Parsi, a Zoroastrian in India”
Modern English
English
Parsee / Parsi
“A member of the Zoroastrian community in India”