Turkmen

Definition

A person from Turkmenistan or of Turkmen descent.

Etymology

The current majority view for the etymology of the ethnonym Türkmen or Turcoman is that it comes from Türk and the Turkic emphasizing suffix -men, meaning "'most Turkish of the Turks' or 'pure-blooded Turks.'" A folk etymology, dating back to the Middle Ages and found in al-Biruni and Mahmud al-Kashgari, instead derives the suffix -men from the Persian suffix -mānind, with the resulting word meaning "like a Turk". While formerly the dominant etymology in modern scholarship, this mixed Turkic-Persian derivation is now viewed as incorrect.

Example Sentences

• "The conquest took 16 years and ended in 1885 in a battle with the Afghans on the banks of the Murghab. During this period, the Turkmens offered the Russians stubborn resistance […]"
• "Keimir-Ker, a Turkmen from the Tekke clan, led a rebellion against the Persians […]"