Abkhaz

noun

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Ab·khaz | \ ab-ˈkäs

variants: or Abkhazian \ ab-ˈkā-zh(ē-)ən

, -ˈkä-zē-ən \ or less commonly Abkhas \ ab-ˈkäs \ or Abkhasian \ ab-ˈkā-zh(ē-)ən , -ˈkä-zē-ən \

plural Abkhaz or Abkhazes or Abkhazians also Abkhas or Abkhasians

Definition of Abkhaz

1a : a people living on the eastern shore of the Black Sea

b : a member of this people

2 : the North Caucasian language of the Abkhaz people

History and Etymology for Abkhaz

Abkhaz borrowed from Russian abkhaz, abkhazets, borrowed from Georgian abkhaz or Arabic & Persian & Ottoman Turkish abkhāz, all borrowed from an uncertain Caucasian source, whence also Late Greek Abaskoí, Abasgoí, Late Latin Abasgī; Abkhazian from Abkhazia, the Abkhaz homeland (ultimately borrowed from Late Greek Abasgía) + -an entry 1