Parsee--prophetes.ai

Parsee
  (pɑːˈsiː)
  Forms: 7 Persie, Parcee, -sie, -sey, -sy, 7–9 -si, Persee, 8– Parsee.
  [a. Pers. Pārsī Persian, f. Pārs Persia.
  In earlier use, Persees, -seis, -ceys, occur as variants of Perses, -is, F. Perses, L. Persas, Persians.
  1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xv. cxviii. (Harl. MS. 644, lf. (131/2), Þe first Perceys weron clepyd Elamytes. 1495 Ibid. xviii. civ, The Persees callen an arowe Tigris.]
  1. One of the descendants of those Persians who fled to India in the seventh and eighth centuries to escape Muslim persecution, and who still retain their religion (Zoroastrianism); a Guebre.

1615 Terry in Purchas Pilgrims (1625) II. 1479 There is one sect among the Gentiles..called Parcees. 1630 Lord (title) The Religion of the Persees, As it was Compiled from a Booke of theirs. 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 74 The Parsis believe that there is but one God, preserver of the Universe. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 197 The Parsies..are of the old stock of the Persians, worship the Sun and Adore the Elements. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. I. xiv. 158 The Parsees are numerous about Surat. 1808 A. Parsons Trav. xii. 260 The Mahometans are the next in number, and the Persees the least. 1881 Monier-Williams in 19th Cent. March 500 The Pārsīs, who are merely colonists in India, derive their name from Pārs (in Arabic, Fārs), the proper name of a particular province of their mother-country.

b. attrib. or as adj.

1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. Table, Parsy-Tombs in Persia the same as in India. 1864 Pusey Lect. Daniel ix. 555 Daily objects of Parsee-worship. 1894 R. H. Elliot Gold, etc. in Mysore 224 A Parsee gentleman, whose unceasing efforts to aid the progress of India entitle him to be placed in the very highest rank.

2. The language of Persia under the Sassanian kings.

1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 479/2 As to the Der{iacu} or Pars{iacu}, after it became the language of the court, it was very much cultivated by the Sassanian kings. 1881 Monier-Williams in 19th Cent. Jan. 160 Pārsī is merely a form of vernacular Persian, later than Pahlavī.