Cilicians

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The people who lived in Cilicia, an ancient region on the southeastern coast of what is now Turkey
2. Natives or residents of the ancient Anatolian territory of Cilicia, a coastal land in southern Asia Minor
3. Ancient inhabitants of Cilicia, the historical district in southern Anatolia bordering the Mediterranean Sea

Etymology: Cilicians are the people of Cilicia, the ancient region in the south-eastern corner of Anatolia, now part of modern Turkey, and the plural simply names those people collectively. The adjective "Cilician" is formed from the place name "Cilicia" plus the suffix "-an", which denotes belonging to or coming from somewhere. That suffix has a long pedigree: it passed from Proto-Italic into Latin as "-ānus", then reached English by way of Old French and Middle English, where it became the ordinary "-an" used in countless place-based words such as "American" or "Victorian".