• IPA: /ˈkændɪən/

Candian (not comparable)

1. (historical) Of or relating to Crete or its inhabitants.
   • 1700, [John] Dryden, “Cymon and Iphigenia, from Boccace”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 228732415 ↗, page 564 ↗:

     In ſafety landed on the Candian Shore, / With generous Wines their Spirits they reſtore; / There Cymon with his Rhodian Friend reſides, / Both Court, and Wed at once the willing Brides.

   • 1787, Robert Jephson, Julia: or, the Italian Lover, London: Charles Dilly, Act I, Scene 7, p. 18,

     Noble as he, and deck’d too with the plume

     Of brave adventure in the Candian war;

     Younger, and not less comely.

2. (historical) Of or relating to the Cretan city of Heraklion or its inhabitants.
   • 1907, Philip Sanford Marden, Greece and the Ægean Islands, London: Archibald Constable & Co., Chapter 2, p. 29,

     There is a good road, and it is possible to walk if desired, although it is about as hot and uninteresting a walk as can well be imagined. It is easier and better to ride, although the Cretan drivers in general, and the Candian ones in particular, enjoy the reputation of being about the most rapacious in the civilized world.

Candian (plural Candians)

1. (historical) An inhabitant or a resident of Crete.
   • 1581, John Alday (translator), Theatrum Mundi, The Theatre or rule of the world by Pierre Boaistuau, London: John Wyght, “To the Reader,”

     Let them consider howe Epiminedes the Greeke spake unto the Candians, calling them cruell and abhominable beastes, braynelesse lyars.

   • 1770, Giovanni Gallini, Critical Observations on the Art of Dancing, London, “Comparison of the Dances of the Modern Greeks with those of the Ancient,” p. 98,

     This is the very image of the dance which the Candians dance at this day.

2. (historical) An inhabitant or a resident of the Cretan city of Heraklion.

Candian (not comparable)

1. (historical) Of or relating to the Kingdom of Kandy on the island now known as Sri Lanka.
   • 1810, Arthur Johnston, Narrative of the Operations of a Detachment in an expedition to Candy, in the Island of Ceylon, in the Year 1804, London: C. & R. Baldwin, p. 126,

     The difficulty of procuring good guides is very great. There are, it is true, always men ready to undertake for hire the task of conducting our troops through the Candian country.

Candian (plural Candians)

1. (historical) An inhabitant or a resident of the Kingdom of Kandy on the island now known as Sri Lanka.
   • 1700, S. L. (translator), A Relation of Two Several Voyages Made into the East-Indies by Christopher Fryke and Christopher Schewitzer, London: D. Brown et al., “Mr. Schewitzer’s Voyage,” Chapter 7, p. 321,

     We retired towards Sittawack, and passed by a steep Rock; whence it is reported, That the late King of Sittawack’s Wife and Daughter flung themselves down headlong, having received the News that he had lost the Battle against the King of Candi. The Candians all the while came after us, but were not able to do us any great harm, because the ways were so narrow that they could not come up to us.