The word “Aryan” is a historically controversial word. According to the Sanskrit literature, the word Aryan (arya) means “noble“, “educated“, “civilized“, or “honorable“.
The Hindu scriptures Rigveda, the Zoroastrian scripture Zend-Avesta, and Iranian writings of the 6th century BC mention this word as ‘Arya‘, ‘Airaya‘, and ‘Ariya‘, respectively.
In the latter half of the 19th century, the word ‘Aryan’ began to be used in an ethnic sense. The English word ‘Aryan‘ originated in an ethnic sense.
According to linguists, the word ‘Aryan’ in Vedic Sanskrit belongs to the Indo-European language family. In this sense, those who speak any of the languages of Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, German, Celtic, Persian, etc. are considered Aryans.
Sir William Jones, the founder of the Asiatic Society, believes that the Sanskrit language is only a branch of the Indo-European language family.
According to Max Muller, the word ‘Aryan’ in a scientific sense can not be used in an ethnic sense; Aryan refers only to the language.
The Austrian-born linguist Karl Penka believes that the word ‘Aryan’ can refer to both a language group and an ethnic group.