ف ا ر س ی ) ▁is ▁the ▁most ▁widely ▁spoken ▁dialect ▁of ▁Pers ian ▁language . ▁It ▁is ▁commonly ▁referred ▁to ▁as ▁Iran ian ▁Pers ian . ▁It ▁is ▁officially ▁spoken ▁in ▁Iran ▁and ▁also ▁by ▁various ▁minor ities ▁in ▁Ira q ▁and ▁the ▁Pers ian ▁G ulf ▁states . ▁It ▁is ▁one ▁of ▁three ▁major ▁dialect s ▁of ▁Pers ian . ▁The ▁other ▁two ▁are ▁D ari ▁Pers ian ▁and ▁T aj iki ▁Pers ian . ▁ ▁Name ▁ ▁The ▁term ▁Pers ian ▁is ▁an ▁English ▁deriv ation ▁of ▁Latin ▁, ▁the ▁ad ject ival ▁form ▁of ▁, ▁itself ▁der iving ▁from ▁Greek ▁ ▁( ), ▁a ▁H ellen ized ▁form ▁of ▁Old ▁Pers ian ▁ ▁( ), ▁which ▁means ▁" Pers ia " ▁( a ▁region ▁in ▁south western ▁Iran , ▁corresponding ▁to ▁modern - day ▁F ars ). ▁According ▁to ▁the ▁Oxford ▁English ▁Dictionary , ▁the ▁term ▁Pers ian ▁as ▁a ▁language ▁name ▁is ▁first ▁att ested ▁in ▁English ▁in ▁the ▁mid - 1 6 th ▁century . ▁ ▁Far si , ▁which ▁is ▁the ▁Pers ian ▁word ▁for ▁the ▁Pers ian ▁language , ▁has ▁also ▁been ▁used ▁widely ▁in ▁English ▁in ▁recent ▁dec ades , ▁more ▁commonly ▁to ▁refer ▁to ▁the ▁standard ▁Pers ian ▁of ▁Iran . ▁However , ▁the ▁name ▁Pers ian ▁is ▁still ▁more ▁widely ▁used . ▁The ▁Academy ▁of ▁Pers ian ▁Language ▁and ▁Liter ature ▁has ▁called ▁for ▁avoid ing ▁the ▁use ▁of ▁the ▁end onym ▁Far si ▁in ▁foreign ▁languages ▁and ▁has ▁maintained ▁that