Bokhara

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An ancient trading city in Uzbekistan on the Silk Road, known for its mosques and madrasas ; a hand-knotted carpet with geometric patterns, originally woven in Central Asia
2. A historic Silk Road city in present-day Uzbekistan famed for its old Islamic architecture ; a durable rug with repeating geometric motifs, traditionally made in Central Asian workshops
3. Uzbekistan's old Silk Road center of learning and trade ; a wool floor covering characterized by red tones and angular designs, first produced in Central Asia

Etymology: "Bokhara" is an alternative spelling of "Bukhara," the Central Asian city in present-day Uzbekistan, and the name itself is older than any of the languages now spoken there. It was borrowed from Classical Persian, where the city was called "buxārā," and that Persian form came from Sogdian, the Iranian language of the merchants who dominated the trade routes of the region. Sogdian speakers were the traders who carried silk, goods and ideas along the roads that later became known as the Silk Road, so the city's name travelled with the commerce that made it prosperous. Because of that long trading history, the name spread across Europe and beyond, and "Bokhara" came to be attached to goods associated with the city, most notably a style of carpet woven in the region. The spelling variants that English uses reflect the difficulty of transcribing a Persian and Sogdian sound into the Roman alphabet, which is why the city now appears under both forms.