Ashgabat

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The capital and largest city of Turkmenistan, a Central Asian country lying near the Karakum Desert and the Iranian border
2. A city in Central Asia that serves as the capital of Turkmenistan and sits in the southern part of the country
3. The principal city of Turkmenistan, located in Central Asia, known for its white marble buildings and administrative importance

Etymology: Ashgabat is named for love, at least according to the most common account. The Turkmen name "Aşgabat" comes from the Classical Persian "išq-ābād," meaning "city of love," built from "išq" ("love") and "ābād" ("city" or "settlement," a common suffix in Persian place names). The city's Persian name reflects the Persian-speaking heritage of the region, where such compounds were a familiar way to name towns. Some historians offer a different origin. They argue the name may go back to Ashk (or Arshk), the founder of the Arsacid Dynasty, which ruled Parthia. On this view, "išq" ("love") was a later reinterpretation, a case of folk etymology in which a name that was already in use came to be understood as a meaningful Persian phrase. The love-city story may therefore be the more appealing account rather than the older one.