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Samarkand

American  
[sam-er-kand, suh-muhr-kahnt] / ˌsæm ərˈkænd, sə mʌrˈkɑnt /
Or Samarcand,

noun

  1. a city in SE Uzbekistan: taken by Alexander the Great 329 b.c.; Tamerlane's capital in the 14th century.


Samarkand British  
/ ˈsæməˌkænd, səmarˈkant /

noun

  1. Ancient name: Maracanda.  a city in E Uzbekistan: under Tamerlane it became the chief economic and cultural centre of central Asia, on trade routes from China and India (the "silk road"). Pop: 289 000 (2005 est)

"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

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

Take your pick of restaurants spread across the outer boroughs, but Samarkand Nights is a wise place to start.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 11, 2026

The meeting in Samarkand runs until December 5.

From Barron's Nov. 24, 2025

FIDE’s World Rapid Championships, which concluded last week in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, featured a very familiar face in the open competition and a huge surprise in the women’s rapid title fight.

From Washington Times Jan. 2, 2024

He said he didn’t get much sleep before he visited a mausoleum the next morning, followed by a tour of the Afrasiyab Museum in Samarkand.

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 4, 2023

Would Samarkand or Cathay or Cipango have suffered the same fate if visited?

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

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