Caucasian

/kɔˈkeɪ.ʒən/

UK: /kɔːˈkeɪ.zɪ.ən/

KƆKEꞮ · ʒən (2 syllables)

English Adj Top 13,935

Definition

Of or relating to the Caucasus region or its culture, languages, and people.

Etymology

From Caucasus (“mountain range in Eastern Europe between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea”) + -ian (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘from, related to, or like’, or forming nouns with the sense ‘one from, belonging to, relating to, or like’). The anthropological sense (no longer regarded as scientific) was popularized by the German anthropologist and physician Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752–1840), based on the belief that the first humans originated from there. Noun sense 2 (“cocktail”) was popularized by the film The Big Lebowski (1998): see the quotation.