Turanian

English

Alternative forms

• Touranian (archaic)

Etymology

From Turan +‎ -ian. Use picked up in the mid 1800s, peaking in the late 1800s before dropping off in the mid 1900s.

Adjective

Turanian (comparative more Turanian, superlative most Turanian)

1. Of or pertaining to Turan.
   • 1899, William George Aston, A History of Japanese Literature, page 18:

     The first written book which has come down to us in the Japanese, or indeed in any Turanian tongue, is the Kojiki or “Records of Ancient Matters,” which was completed A.D. 712.

     Note: the idea that Japanese is a “Turanian” language is long since discredited.

2. Of or pertaining to the Turanians.
   • 1900, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 3, page 278:

     The Esthonians of Russia, who, like the Magyars, belong to the great Turanian family of mankind.

Translations

of or pertaining to Turan

• Hungarian: turáni (hu)

Noun

Turanian (plural Turanians)

1. (linguistics, racial theories, obsolete) A member of any of the Asian peoples who speak Uralic or Altaic (or Turan) languages.

Proper noun

Turanian

1. A proposed language family (now generally rejected) encompassing the Uralic and Altaic languages; Ural-Altaic.

References

• “Turanian”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Urantian, naturian, nutarian, tauranin