Tajik

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A member of the Persian-speaking people living mainly in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.
adj
  1. Of or pertaining to the Tajiks.
  2. Of or relating to Tajiki Persian.
name
  1. The Persian dialect spoken by Tajiks in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Pronunciation

/ˈtɑːd͡ʒɪk/ /tæˈd͡ʒiːk/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Tajik.wav

Word forms

Tajik Tajiks Tadjik Tadzhik Taujik

Etymology

From Classical Persian تاجیک (tājīk, “non-Turk (of Central Asia)”) (akin to تازی (tāzī), تازیک (tāzīk)), (ultimately) from Middle Persian tʾcyk' (tāzīg, “Arab”), (ultimately) from Arabic طَيِّئ (ṭayyiʔ, “name of an Arab clan”). See Tayy. Popular folk etymology traces the word to Tajik тоҷ (toj, “crown”) (see Arabic تَاج (tāj), from Persian تاج (tâj, “crown”)), but this is false.

Related words

Wiktionary’s coverage of Tajik terms
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