Caucasus

English

Etymology

Via Latin Caucasus, from Ancient Greek Καύκασος (Kaúkasos).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔːkəsəs/
• Homophone: caucuses

Proper noun

Caucasus

1. A mountain range in Eastern Europe between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, on territory of Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, which includes the ranges of Greater Caucasus and Lesser Caucasus.
   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     Oh who can hold a fire in his hand / By thinking on the froſtie Caucaſus? / Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite, / by bare imagination of a Feaſt?

   • 1851, Lieutenant Maturin Murray, The Circassian Slave, or The Sultan's Favorite:

     […] from the long and rugged ravines of the Caucasus, […]

   • 1887, Walter Savage Landor, Gebir:

     Driven with that weak blast which Winter leaves, / Closing his palace gates on Caucasus, / […]

   • 1895, Robert W. Chambers, The King In Yellow:

     Germany, Italy, Spain and Belgium writhed in the throes of Anarchy, while Russia, watching from the Caucasus, stooped and bound them one by one.

2. (geopolitics) A geopolitical region in Eastern Europe and Western Asia, deriving its name from the aforementioned mountains.

Usage notes

• Usually referred to as the Caucasus, but not always (see quot. 1887)

Related terms

• Caucasia
• Caucasian
• Caucasology
• Caucasus Indicus
• Greater Caucasus
• Lesser Caucasus
• North Caucasus
• South Caucasus

Translations

a mountain range

• Arabic: اَلْقَوْقَاز m (al-qawqāz), القُفْقَاز m (al-qufqāz)
• Bengali: কাফকাজ (kaphokaj)
• Catalan: Caucas (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 高加索 (zh) (Gāojiāsuǒ)

• Czech: Kavkaz (cs) m
• Dutch: Kaukasus (nl) m
• Esperanto: Kaŭkazo
• Galician: Cáucaso (gl) m
• Georgian: კავკასიონი (ḳavḳasioni)
• German: Kaukasus (de) m
• Hebrew: קַוְקָז m (kavkaz)
• Hindi: काफ (hi) m (kāph), कोहकाफ (hi) m (kohkāph)
• Irish: Cugas m
• Italian: Catena del Caucaso f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Kaukasus (no)

  Nynorsk: Kaukasus

• Parthian: 𐭊𐭐𐭉 𐭕𐭅𐭓𐭓𐭀 (kpy twrrʾ /⁠kpy TWRA⁠/)

geographic region

• Abkhaz: Кавказ (Kʼavkʼaz)
• Adyghe: Къэфкъас (Qɛfqas)
• Albanian: Kaukazi (sq)
• Arabic: اَلْقَوْقَاز m (al-qawqāz)

  Hijazi Arabic: القوقاز m or f (al-qōqāz)

• Armenian: Կովկաս (hy) (Kovkas)

  Old Armenian: Կովկաս (Kovkas)

• Azerbaijani: Qafqaz
• Basque: Kaukaso
• Belarusian: Каўка́з m (Kaŭkáz)
• Bengali: কাফকাজ (kaphokaj)
• Bulgarian: Кавка́з m (Kavkáz)
• Catalan: Caucas (ca) m
• Chechen: Кавказ (Kavkaz), Ковказ (Kovkaz)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 高加索 (zh) (Gāojiāsuǒ)

• Czech: Kavkaz (cs) m
• Danish: Kaukasus
• Dutch: Kaukasus (nl)
• Esperanto: Kaŭkazio
• Estonian: Kaukaasia (et)
• Finnish: Kaukasus (fi)
• French: Caucase (fr) m
• Galician: Cáucaso (gl) m
• Georgian: კავკასია (ḳavḳasia)
• German: Kaukasus (de) m
• Greek: Καύκασος (el) m (Káfkasos)
• Hebrew: קווקז m (kaukaz)
• Hindi: कॉकस (kŏkas), कौकसस (kaukasas)
• Hungarian: Kaukázus (hu)
• Ido: Kaukazia (io)
• Indonesian: Kaukasus
• Ingush: Кавказ (Kavkaz)
• Irish: Cugas m
• Italian: Caucaso (it) m
• Japanese: カフカース (Kafukāsu), コーカサス (ja) (Kōkasasu)
• Kabardian: Къаукъаз (Qawuqaz)
• Karachay-Balkar: Кавказ (Kavkaz)
• Kazakh: Кавказ (Kavkaz)
• Korean: 카프카스 (Kapeukaseu)
• Kyrgyz: Кавказ (Kavkaz)
• Latin: Caucasus m
• Latvian: Kaukāzs m
• Lezgi: Къавкьаз (Q̄avq̇az)
• Lithuanian: Kaukazas
• Macedonian: Кавказ m (Kavkaz)
• Malay: Kaukasus
• Marathi: कॉकसस (kŏksas)
• Middle Persian: kpkwf
• Mongolian: Кавказ (mn) (Kavkaz)
• Navajo: Kaakáísis
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Kaukasia

  Nynorsk: Kaukasia

• Occitan: Caucàs m
• Ossetian: Кавказ (Kavkaz)
• Persian: قفقاز (fa) (qafqâz)
• Polish: Kaukaz (pl) m
• Portuguese: Cáucaso m
• Romanian: Caucaz m
• Russian: Кавка́з (ru) m (Kavkáz)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Ка̀вказ m

  Roman: Kàvkaz (sh) m

• Slovak: Kaukaz m
• Slovene: Kavkáz (sl) m
• Spanish: Cáucaso (es) m
• Swedish: Kaukasien (sv) c
• Tajik: Қафқоз (Qafqoz)
• Tatar: Кавказ (Qawkaz)
• Thai: คอเคซัส (kor kay sát)
• Turkish: Kafkasya (tr)
• Turkmen: Kavkaz
• Ukrainian: Кавка́з (uk) m (Kavkáz)
• Uzbek: Kavkaz
• Vietnamese: Kavkaz

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Καύκασος (Kaúkasos).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkau̯.ka.sʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkäːu̯.kä.s̬us]

Proper noun

Caucasus m sg (genitive Caucasī); second declension

1. Caucasus

Declension

Second-declension noun, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Caucasus
genitive	Caucasī
dative	Caucasō
accusative	Caucasum
ablative	Caucasō
vocative	Caucase

Descendants

• Catalan: Caucas
• French: Caucase
• Galician: Cáucaso
• Italian: Caucaso
• Occitan: Caucàs
• Portuguese: Cáucaso
• Romanian: Caucaz
• Spanish: Cáucaso
  • → Basque: Kaukaso
• → Arabic: اَلْقَوْقَاز (al-qawqāz)
  • → Azerbaijani: Qafqaz
  • → Pashto: قفقاز (qafqāz, qavqāz)
  • → Classical Persian:
    • Persian: قفقاز (qafqâz)
    • Tajik: Қафқоз (Qafqoz)
  • → Tatar: Qawqaz
• → Danish: Kaukasus (learned)
• → Dutch: Kaukasus (learned)
• → English: Caucasus (learned)
• → Finnish: Kaukasus (learned)
• → German: Kaukasus (learned)
• → Hungarian: Kaukázus (learned)
• → Middle Irish: Cucas
  • Irish: Cugas
• → Russian: Кавказ (Kavkaz) (see there for further descendants)