Bessarabia
/ˌbɛsəˈreɪbiə/noun
A historical region in Eastern Europe, roughly between the Prut and Dniester rivers.
Did you know?The name Bessarabia is tied to the Wallachian Basarab dynasty, and its meaning was later stretched by foreign powers to label an entire land, showing how political names can outlive the people who coined them.
Etymological Timeline
14th Century
Romanian/Wallachian
Basarab
“The name of a ruling dynasty in Wallachia, probably of Turkic origin.”
Late 14th Century
Hungarian/Latin
Bessarabia
“A region associated with the Basarab rulers; the name began to be applied externally to territory.”
16th–17th Centuries
Polish/Latin
Bessarabia
“Used in regional and diplomatic writing for the area south of the Dniester and around the lower Danube.”
1812
Russian
Bessarabia
“Officially adopted by the Russian Empire for the territory annexed from the Ottoman Empire and Moldavia.”
Modern English
English
Bessarabia
“The historical name of a region in Eastern Europe.”