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Caucasian

 - 4 dictionary results

Cau⋅ca⋅sian

  [kaw-key-zhuhn, -shuhn, -kazh-uhn, -kash-]
Use Caucasian in a Sentence
–adjective Also, Cau⋅cas⋅ic  [kaw-kas-ik, -kaz-] .
1. Anthropology. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of one of the traditional racial divisions of humankind, marked by fair to dark skin, straight to tightly curled hair, and light to very dark eyes, and originally inhabiting Europe, parts of North Africa, western Asia, and India: no longer in technical use.
2. of or pertaining to the Caucasus mountain range.
3. of or related to the non-Indo-European, non-Turkic languages of the Caucasus region.
–noun
4. Anthropology. a member of the peoples traditionally classified as the Caucasian race, esp. those peoples having light to fair skin: no longer in technical use.
5. a native of Caucasia.
Origin:
1800–10; < L Caucasi(us) (< Gk Kaukásios, equiv. to Kaúkas(os) Caucasus + -ios adj. suffix) + -an
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Caucasian
Cau·ca·sian   (kô-kā'zhən, -kāzh'ən)   
adj.  

    1. Anthropology Of or being a human racial classification distinguished especially by very light to brown skin pigmentation and straight to wavy or curly hair, and including peoples indigenous to Europe, northern Africa, western Asia, and India. See Usage Note at race1.

    2. Of or relating to a racial group having white skin, especially one of European origin; white.

  2. Of or relating to the Caucasus region or its peoples, languages, or cultures.

  3. Of or relating to a group of three language families spoken in the region of the Caucasus mountains, including Chechen, Abkhaz, and the Kartvelian languages.

n.  

  1. Anthropology A member of the Caucasian racial classification.

  2. A native or inhabitant of the Caucasus.

  3. The Caucasian language family.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

Caucasian 
1807, from Caucasus Mountains, between the Black and Caspian seas; applied to the "white" race 1795 (in Ger.) by Ger. anthropologist Johann Blumenbach, because their supposed ancestral homeland lay there; since abandoned as a historical/anthropological term. Lit. meaning "resident or native of the Caucasus" is from 1843. The mountain range name is from Gk. kaukhasis, from Scythian kroy-khasis, lit. "(the mountain) ice-shining."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: Cau·ca·sian
Pronunciation: 'ko-'kA-zh&n, -'kazh-&n
Function: adjective
1 : of or relating to the white race ofhumankind as classified according to physical features
2 : of or relating to the white race as defined by law specifically as composed of persons of European, No. African, orsouthwest Asian ancestry —Caucasian noun
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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