Arier

Arier denotes originally a member of the Indo-Iranian group of peoples which included the Medes, Persians, and Indians. In ancient Mesopotamia they constituted a ruling class. The word is also used to denote Indo-Europeans. In the 19th c. the linguistic and historical term was extended and virtually transferred to political use, coming to signify the Germanic peoples as predestined to be a master race, and acquiring a special anti-Semitic sense. Arier (adj. arisch), meaning non-Jewish, was regularly employed in official language under National Socialism. (See Anti-Semitism.)