Skip to content

aryen

Aryan

adjective ar-YAHN Rare

Usage Note

Aryen (feminine aryenne) refers in linguistics to the Indo-European/Indo-Iranian language family, but is inseparable in modern usage from Nazi racial ideology where it was applied as a label for a supposed 'pure' ethnic group. In contemporary French the word almost always appears in a historical or critical context, and its racial sense is considered offensive. The noun form un Aryen / une Aryenne was used in wartime anti-Jewish laws.

Examples

"Le régime utilisait le terme aryen à des fins idéologiques."

Natural Translation

The regime used the term Aryan for ideological purposes.

Explore French by topic