Taklamakan

or Ta·kli·ma·kan

[ tah-kluh-muh-kahn ]

noun

1. a desert in south central Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in China. About 125,000 sq. mi. (323,750 sq. km).

Word History and Origins

Origin of Taklamakan¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; of uncertain origin: perhaps from Turkic taqlar makan “place of ruins”; perhaps from Uyghur Takla, from Persian tark “to abandon” + Persian makan “place”; some Chinese scholars connect Taklamakan and Tocharian ( def )