Ian

¹

[ee-uhn, ee-ahn, ahy-uhn]

noun

1. a male given name, Scottish form of John.

-ian

²

1. a suffix with the same meaning and properties as -an, though -ian is now the more productive of the two suffixes in recent coinages, especially when the base noun ends in a consonant: Orwellian; Washingtonian .

-ian

suffix

1. a variant of -an

   Etonian

   Johnsonian

Word History and Origins

Origin of -ian¹

Extracted from Latin loanwords in which -ānus (adjective suffix) is joined to stems ending in i; -an

Word History and Origins

Origin of -ian¹

from Latin -iānus

Example Sentences

Thanks to the late Ian Holm’s face being digitally superimposed over that of Daniel Betts, we’re primed to recognize that Rook is up to no good.

From Salon

Ian Murray has expressed his disappointment at losing his job as secretary of state for Scotland.

From BBC

Ian Murray has been sacked from his post as Scottish secretary in the UK government.

From BBC

Ian Murray is Scottish Labour's longest serving MP – indeed for a while he was their only MP, the party's last toehold north of the border.

From BBC

Chaves is once again behind the camera for “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” with a script by Ian B. Goldberg, Richard Naing and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick that promises to deliver a final Warren case that devastated the family and ended their careers on a dark note.

From Los Angeles Times