Where does “Turkestan” come from?

Turkestan comes from Persian Turkestān, a place name meaning "land of the Turks" formed from Turk plus the Persian suffix -stān denoting territory or region.

Turkestan (English): The regions of Central Asia lying between Siberia to the north; Tibet (Xizang) and Xinjiang, China, modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran to the south; the Gobi Desert to the east; and the Caspian Sea to the west

Definitions

  1. The regions of Central Asia lying between Siberia to the north; Tibet (Xizang) and Xinjiang, China, modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran to the south; the Gobi Desert to the east; and the Caspian Sea to the west

Ancestry of “Turkestan”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Persianترکستان—
2Persianـستان-istan, -estan, -stan
3Middle Persian-stʾn'makes nouns of places; of indeterminate function
4Proto-Indo-IranianstáHnamthe act of standing; position, location, place
5Proto-Indo-Europeanstéh₂-no-m—
6Proto-Indo-Europeansteh₂-to stand

Words derived from “Turkestan”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European steh₂- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European stéh₂-no-m →Every word from Middle Persian -stʾn' →