Safavid
/ˈsæfəvɪd/noun
Relating to the dynasty that ruled Persia, chiefly from 1501 to 1722, or to a member of that dynasty.
Did you know?The dynasty took its name from Ṣafī al-Dīn, a Sufi master whose spiritual order eventually became a powerful imperial movement.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Arabic
Arabic
ṣafā / ṣafī
“Purity; pure or sincere”
13th–14th Century
Persian-Arabic
Ṣafī al-Dīn
““Purity of the faith,” the name of the Sufi founder Ṣafī al-Dīn Isḥāq Ardabīlī”
14th–15th Century
Persian
Ṣafaviyya
“The Sufi religious order founded around Ṣafī al-Dīn and his successors”
16th Century
Persian
Ṣafavi
“Relating to the Safavid dynasty established by Shah Ismail I”
Modern English
English
Safavid
“Relating to the Persian dynasty or its period of rule”