Turkoman

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A member of a Turkic ethnic group historically inhabiting areas of Central Asia and parts of the Middle East, a person belonging to Turkoman tribes known for their distinct cultural and linguistic traits, and a term used to describe the speakers of Turkic languages in regions such as Turkmenistan and surrounding territories
2. An individual from the Turkic-speaking ethnic groups native to Central Asia and the adjacent regions, culturally associated with traditional nomadic lifestyles and language, and a designation for people belonging to Turkoman tribes or related populations
3. Someone identified with Turkoman ethnic heritage, typically from Central Asian and Middle Eastern areas, characterized by the use of Turkic languages and customs, and recognized as part of a historically significant group with a common ancestry and cultural background

Etymology: The Persian "turkamān" is the root of this word, and its literal sense is thought to be "like a Turk," built from "Turk" with a suffix that resembles the Persian word for "like." Medieval Latin writers then borrowed the Persian form as "Turcomannus," and English took it from there as a name for the Turkic-speaking peoples of Central Asia and the Middle East. The word is a doublet of "Turkman" and "Turkmen," which came into English by the same route but kept different spellings. Spelling is the main difference: "turkoman" and "Turcoman" are variant forms of one word, and the newer "Turkmen" tracks more closely to the modern name of the people of Turkmenistan. Today this word is mostly found in historical writing about the groups that moved across Anatolia, Iran and Central Asia, where it names a people rather than a single nation.

Synonyms: Turkmen, Turkmeni