wine made in the district of Shiraz, the city in Persia, 1630s. As the name for a red wine made from a type of grape grown in the Rhône valley of France, it is recorded from 1908, from French syrah, the name apparently being altered in English on the mistaken notion that the grape was brought to Europe from the Middle East by Crusaders. The Iranian place name is said to be from Elamite sher "good" + raz "grape."

1889, Beha'i, "mystical, tolerant Iranian religion," founded by a Mirza Ali Mohammed ibn Radhik, a Shiraz merchant executed for heresy in 1850, and named for his leading disciple, Baha Allah (Persian "splendor of God;" ultimately from Arabic). It also is sometimes called Babism, after the name taken by the founder, Bab-ed-Din, "gate of the faith."