Urgench

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A city in the Khorezm region of western Uzbekistan, located near the Amu Darya river in Central Asia
2. A historic urban centre in northwestern Uzbekistan that lies in the Khorezm oasis near the Amu Darya
3. An Uzbek city in the Khorezm province of Central Asia, situated on the lower course of the Amu Darya river

Etymology: Urgench is a city in Uzbekistan, and the name entered English by way of Russian, which rendered the local place name as "Урге́нч." The city sits on the lower course of the Amu Darya, in the region the ancient Persians and Arabs knew as Khwarazm, and it was for centuries a major trading centre on the caravan routes across Central Asia. The English word is therefore a proper noun carried over from Russian spelling conventions rather than a word that developed through English speakers' own vocabulary. Its form reflects how Russian transliterates the Turkic-influenced name of the city, so the spelling "Urgench" reads differently from the older "Urgenj" or "Urgench" variants found in other European languages.