arian

noun

1. (historical)A supporter of the Cyrenaic monk Arius and his faction in the 4th-century Church.

   “The Arians celebrated the virtue of their pious confessor; the Catholics ambitiously claimed his alliance; and the Pagans, who might be susceptible of shame or remorse, were deterred from the repetition of such unavailing cruelty.”

2. A believer of Arianism, particularly (historical) the official Arian churches lasting to the 7th century.
3. (derogatory, usually)Synonym of unitarian, any Christian who denies the Trinity.
4. (dated, derogatory)Synonym of heretic, any Christian differing from any of the beliefs of the speaker.
5. Synonym of Aries, a person born under the influence of Aries.
6. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative spelling of Aryan.

adj

1. (not-comparable)Of or pertaining to Arius or Arianism.

   “The highways of the East were crowded with Homoousian, and Arian, and Semi-Arian, and Eunomian bishops, who struggled to outstrip each other in the holy race: […].”

   “He flirts with the Arian heresy, which doubted Jesus’s full divinity, and he embraces Quaker-style religious pacifism, arguing that just-war theory is out of date in an age of nuclear arms and total war.”

2. Of or related to Aries, its nature, and its influence.

   “The Arian nature is to create the idea...”

3. (historical, not-comparable)Of or related to Aria, the region around Herat in Afghanistan, particularly in the context of its ancient history.