Persia
(pʉr′z̸hə, -s̸hə)
Origin:
L < Gr Persais < OPers Pārsa
See Persia in American Heritage Dictionary 4
- also Persian Empire A vast empire of southwest Asia founded by Cyrus II after 546 B.C. and brought to the height of its power and glory by Darius I and his son Xerxes. Eventually the empire extended from the Indus River valley in present-day Pakistan to the Mediterranean Sea before Alexander the Great conquered it between 333 and 331 B.C.
- See Iran.
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