Abkhaz

noun

Ab·​khaz ab-ˈkäs 

variants or Abkhazian

ab-ˈkā-zh(ē-)ən 

-ˈkä-zē-ən

or less commonly Abkhas

ab-ˈkäs

or Abkhasian

ab-ˈkā-zh(ē-)ən,

-ˈkä-zē-ən

plural Abkhaz or Abkhazes or Abkhazians also Abkhas or Abkhasians

1

a

: a people living on the eastern shore of the Black Sea

b

: a member of this people

2

: the North Caucasian language of the Abkhaz people

Word History

Etymology

Abkhaz borrowed from Russian abkhaz, abkhazets, borrowed from Georgian abkhaz or Arabic & Persian & Ottoman Turkish abkhāz, all borrowed from an uncertain Caucasian source, whence also Late Greek Abaskoí, Abasgoí, Late Latin Abasgī; Abkhazian from Abkhazia, the Abkhaz homeland (ultimately borrowed from Late Greek Abasgía) + -an entry 1

First Known Use

1686, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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