Turk
UK /tɜːk/ · US /tɝk/ noun, adjective, proper noun
Forms Turks Turke
- noun (linguistics) A person of an ethnically diverse linguistic group that speaks the Turkic languages.
- noun A member of a Turkic-speaking ethnic group native to Anatolia (which comprises the bulk of their modern nation-state of Türkiye). [from 12th c.]
- noun (obsolete) A Muslim. [16th–18th c.]
- noun a Christian horse-archer in Crusader army (Turcopole).
- noun (archaic) A bloodthirsty and savage person; vandal; barbarian.
- noun A member of a Mestee group in South Carolina.
- noun A person from Llanelli, Wales.
- noun A Turkish horse.
- adjective Synonym of Turkic.
- adjective Synonym of Turkish.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English Turke, Turk, from Old French Turc, from Medieval Latin Turcus, from Byzantine Greek Τοῦρκος (Toûrkos), from Classical Persian تُرْک (turk), from Middle Persian [script needed] (twlk' /turk/), from Old Turkic 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰜 (t²ẅr²ẅk²). See Proto-Turkic *tür(ü)k for more.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A member of any of numerous Tartar tribes of Central Asia, etc.; esp., one of the dominant race in Turkey.
- noun A native or inhabitant of Turkey.
Etymology [Per. Turk; probably of Tartar origin: cf. F. Turc.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “Turk”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details