Where does “turk” come from?
turk (English) comes from Turkish Türk, from Ottoman Turkish ترك, from Persian ترک, from Middle Persian twlk', from Old Turkic 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰜, from Proto-Turkic *tür(ü)k.
Ancestry of “turk”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Turkish | Türk | Turk; Turkish |
| 2 | Ottoman Turkish | ترك | Turk |
| 3 | Persian | ترک | crack |
| 4 | Middle Persian | twlk' | — |
| 5 | Old Turkic | 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰜 | — |
| 6 | Proto-Turkic | *tür(ü)k | — |