Turkestan

or Tur·ki·stan

[ tur-kuh-stan, -stahn, tur-kuh-stan, -stahn ]

noun
  1. a vast region in western and central Asia, east of the Caspian Sea: includes territory in the south central part of Xinjiang province in China (Eastern Turkestan or Chinese Turkestan ), a strip of northern Afghanistan, and the area (Russian Turkestan ) comprising the republics of Kazakhstan, Kirghizia (Kyrgyzstan), Tadzhikistan (Tajikistan), Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Origin of Turkestan

1
First recorded in 1710–20; from Persian Torkestān; literally, “land of the Turks”

Other words from Turkestan

  • Tur·ke·stan·i·an, adjective, noun

Words Nearby Turkestan

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Turkestan in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Turkestan

Turkestan

Turkistan

/ (ˌtɜːkɪˈstɑːn) /


noun
  1. an extensive region of central Asia between Siberia in the north and Tibet, India, Afghanistan, and Iran in the south: formerly divided into West (Russian) Turkestan (also called Soviet Central Asia), comprising present-day Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan and the S part of Kazakhstan, and East (Chinese) Turkestan, approximating to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012