turkestan
/ˌtɜɹkɪˈstæn/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.54 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
1
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
The regions of Central Asia lying between Siberia to the north; Tibet (Xizang) and Xinjiang, China, modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran to the south; the Gobi Desert to the east; and the Caspian Sea to the west.
Example Sentences
- "Men, women, and children were p'a-hsia (squatting, as a camel squats), to use the Gobi caravan phrase, without a tent among them, but sheltered by big rocks. A little fire was being jealously fed from the small store of fuel they had brought on their pack animals, and they gave us tea. They were gravely merry and pressed on us the courtesy of the good folk of Turkestan. Old men stroked their beards and youths waited on us and women fluttered about the rim of the circle to get a glimpse of the khanum, my wife."
Etymology
From Persian ترکستان (torkestân), from Middle Persian twlkstʾn' (Turkestān), from twlk' (Turk) + -stʾn' (-estān). By surface analysis, Turk + -estan.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌtɜɹkɪˈstæn/
- British English: /ˌtɜː(ɹ)kɪˈstɑːn/