Aryan
The origin and history of Aryan.
Etymology
From Sanskrit ā́rya ("noble"). Borrowed into English in the 1800s as a linguistic term, then hijacked in the 19th–20th centuries by race theorists — most infamously the Nazis — to invent a supposed racial hierarchy that has no basis in the word's actual history.
Class of 1800
Aryan first entered the language around 1800. Other words from the same year:
See the full Class of 1800 →