The gentilic ēr- and ary- in ērān and aryān derives from Old Iranian *arya-[3] (Old Persian airya-, Avestan airiia-, etc.), meaning "Aryan",[3] in the sense of "of the Iranians".[3][4] This term is attested as an ethnic designator in Achaemenid inscriptions and in Zoroastrianism's Avesta tradition,[5][n 1] and it seems "very likely"[3] that in Ardashir's inscription ērān still retained this meaning, denoting the people rather than the empire.