Caucasian

American  

[kaw-key-zhuhn, -shuhn, -kazh-uhn, -kash-] / kɔˈkeɪ ʒən, -ʃən, -ˈkæʒ ən, -ˈkæʃ- /

adjective

1. Anthropology.  (no longer in technical use) of, relating to, or characteristic of one of the traditional racial divisions of humankind, marked by fair to dark skin, straight to tightly curled hair, and light to very dark eyes, and originally inhabiting Europe, parts of North Africa, western Asia, and India.

2. white.

   a brown-haired Caucasian female with a tattoo on her left shoulder.

3. of or relating to the Caucasus mountain range.

4. Linguistics.  of or related to the non-Indo-European, non-Turkic languages of the Caucasus region.

---

noun

1. Anthropology.  (no longer in technical use) a member of the peoples traditionally classified as the Caucasian race, especially those peoples having light to fair skin.

2. a white person.

   The chef at this awesome new Indian restaurant is actually a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian from Montana.

3. a native of Caucasia.

Caucasian British  

/ -ʒən, kɔːˈkeɪzɪən, kɔːˈkeɪzɪk /

adjective

1. old-fashioned  another word for Caucasoid

2. of or relating to the Caucasus

---

noun

1. a White person; a Caucasoid

2. a native or inhabitant of Caucasia

3. any of three possibly related families of languages spoken in the Caucasus: North-West Caucasian, including Circassian and Abkhaz, North-East Caucasian , including Avar, and South Caucasian including Georgian

Usage

The word Caucasian is very widely used in the US to refer to people of European origin or people who are White, even though the original classification was broader than this

Pop Culture

— The Caucasian Chalk Circle: A 1944 modernist play by German playwright Bertolt Brecht. — Caucasian Review of International Affairs: An academic journal dealing with the Caucasus region, published quarterly. —Caucasian Ovcharka: A breed of dogs, also called the Caucasian Shepherd.

Other Word Forms

• non-Caucasian adjective

Etymology

Origin of Caucasian

First recorded in 1800–10; from Latin Caucas(eus), Caucas(ius), derivative of Caucasus, from Greek Kaúkasos; + -ian adjective suffix; Caucasus, -ian

Example Sentences

A “regular, like, Caucasian man,” as described by Tyler, the Creator, the beloved, chart-topping Los Angeles rapper.

From The Wall Street Journal

One well known example was a 2019 US government study which found that facial recognition algorithms were far less accurate at identifying African-American and Asian faces compared to Caucasian faces.

From BBC

It wasn’t because we were choosing to date Caucasian people.

From Los Angeles Times

Rodriguez disputed law enforcement’s recounting of the incident, telling TMZ in March that he was sleeping in the passenger seat when a “Caucasian” officer on a “power trip” slapped him to wake him up.

From Los Angeles Times

Ms Archerd's preference was for a married Caucasian, Christian couple living in the US, as she didn't want to "go out of the country", she told MIT Technology Review.

From BBC