# Caucasian
## English
### Etymology

From Caucasus (“mountain range in Eastern Europe between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea”) +‎ -ian (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘from, related to, or like’, or forming nouns with the sense ‘one from, belonging to, relating to, or like’). The anthropological sense (no longer regarded as scientific) was popularized by the German anthropologist and physician Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752–1840), based on the belief that the first humans originated from there.
Noun sense 2 (“cocktail”) was popularized by the film The Big Lebowski (1998): see the quotation.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /kɔːˈkeɪ.ʒən/, /-ʃən/, /kɔːˈkeɪ.zɪ.ən/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /kɔˈkeɪ.ʒən/
* (cot–caught merger) IPA: /kɑˈkeɪ.ʒən/
* Rhymes: -eɪʒən, -eɪʃən
* Hyphenation: Cau‧cas‧i‧an

### Adjective

Caucasian (comparative more Caucasian, superlative most Caucasian)
* Of or relating to the Caucasus region or its culture, languages, and people.
    Synonym: Caucasic
* (anthropology, dated) Of a racial classification pertaining to people having certain phenotypical features such as straight, curly, or wavy hair and very light to brown pigmented skin, and originating from Europe, parts of Northern Africa and Central, South, and Western Asia.
    Synonyms: Caucasoid, Europid
* (Canada, US, Singapore) Of a person: having a white complexion and European ancestry; white.

#### Alternative forms

* caucasian

#### Derived terms

* Caucasian agama (Paralaudakia caucasia)
* Caucasian Albania
* Caucasian Albanian
* Caucasian alder (Alnus subcordata)
* Caucasian Azerbaijan
* Caucasian badger (Meles canescens)
* Caucasian bear (Ursus arctos syriacus or Ursus arctos arctos)
* Caucasian birch mouse (Sicista caucasica)
* Caucasian black grouse (Lyrurus mlokosiewiczi)
* Caucasian bladdernut (Staphylea colchica)
* Caucasian bluestem (Bothriochloa bladhii)
* Caucasian comfrey (Symphytum caucasicum)
* Caucasian dwarf goby (Knipowitschia caucasica)
* Caucasian elk (†Alces alces caucasicus)
* Caucasian goat (Capra caucasica)
* Caucasian goby (Ponticola constructor)
* Caucasian grouse (Lyrurus mlokosiewiczi)
* Caucasian hackberry (Celtis caucasica)
* Caucasian honey bee (Apis mellifera caucasia)
* Caucasian Iberia
* Caucasian leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana)
* Caucasian lily (Lilium kesselringianum, Lilium monadelphum)
* Caucasian lynx (Lynx lynx dinniki)
* Caucasian mole (Talpa caucasica)
* Caucasian moose (†Alces alces caucasicus)
* Caucasian mountain ground squirrel (Spermophilus musicus)
* Caucasianness
* Caucasian nettle tree (Celtis caucasica)
* Caucasian newt (Lissotriton lantzi)
* Caucasian ovcharka
* Caucasian peony (Paeonia daurica subsp. mlokosewitschii)
* Caucasian persimmon (Diospyros lotus)
* Caucasian salamander (Mertensiella caucasica)
* Caucasian shepherd, Caucasian shepherd dog
* Caucasian smooth newt (Lissotriton lantzi)
* Caucasian snowcock (Tetraogallus caucasicus)
* Caucasian snowdrop (Galanthus alpinus var. alpinus)
* Caucasian snow vole (Chionomys gud)
* Caucasian squirrel (Sciurus anomalus)
* Caucasian tur (Capra caucasica)
* Caucasian walnut (Pterocarya fraxinifolia)
* Caucasian whortleberry (Vaccinium arctostaphylos)
* Caucasian wildcat (Felis silvestris caucasica)
* Caucasian wingnut (Pterocarya fraxinifolia)
* Caucasian zelkova (Zelkova carpinifolia)
* Caucasity
* Dene-Caucasian
* Dené-Caucasian
* North Caucasian Federal District
* South Caucasian (adjective)

#### Related terms

* Caucasic
* Caucasoid
* Caucasus

#### Translations
### Noun

Caucasian (plural Caucasians)
* A native or inhabitant of the Caucasus.
* (alcoholic beverages, humorous) Synonym of White Russian (“a cocktail consisting of coffee liqueur, milk, and vodka”)
** 1998 January 18, Joel and Ethan Coen, The Big Lebowski (motion picture), spoken by Jeffrey (“The Dude”) Lebowski (Jeff Bridges):I'll go out and mingle. Jesus, you mix a hell of a Caucasian, Jackie.
* (anthropology, dated) A member of the Caucasian racial classification (adjective sense 2).
* (linguistics) A group of languages spoken in the Caucasus region.
* (Canada, US) A white person.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:white person
** 2008, Ridley Pearson, chapter 2, in Killer View, Jove premium edition, New York, N.Y.: Jove Books, published 2009, →ISBN:The male Caucasian, twenty-four, a skier, was said to have been missing for over three hours.

#### Alternative forms

* caucasian

#### Derived terms

* Northeast Caucasian
* South Caucasian (noun, proper noun)

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ “Caucasian, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2018; “Caucasian, adj. and n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* ↑ Io. Frid. Blumenbach [i.e., Johann Friedrich Blumenbach] (1795) “Sectio IV. Generis humani varietates quinae principes, species vero unica.”, in De generis hvmani varietate nativa […] [The Natural Variety of the Human Race] (in Latin), 3rd edition, Göttingen, Lower Saxony: Vandenhoek et Rvprecht, →OCLC, § 82 (Characteres et limites harum varietatum), page 289.
* ↑ Stephen Jay Gould (1994 November) “The Geometer of Race”, in Discover‎, Waukesha, Wis.: Kalmbach Publishing Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 January 2021, pages 65–69:Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752–1840), the German anatomist and naturalist who established the most influential of all racial classifications, invented this name [Caucasian] in 1795, in the third edition of his seminal work, De Generis Humani Varietate Nativa (On the Natural Variety of Mankind). Blumenbach’s definition cites two reasons for his choice—the maximal beauty of the people from this small region, and the probability that humans were first created in this area.

### Further reading

* Caucasian race on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* historical race concepts on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* languages of the Caucasus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* peoples of the Caucasus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* white people on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Caucasian (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia