Crimea
/kraɪˈmiː.ə/noun
A peninsula in the northern Black Sea, historically and geopolitically significant.
Did you know?The modern name ultimately comes from the Crimean Tatar city Qırım, and the peninsula’s name spread through medieval and early modern European maps as power shifted across the Black Sea.
Etymological Timeline
Modern English
English
Crimea
“The peninsula in the northern Black Sea”
16th Century
Italian/Latin
Crimea / Cimmeria
“European map forms used for the peninsula and surrounding region”
Medieval Turkic
Crimean Tatar
Qırım
“The name of the city of Staryi Krym, later extended to the peninsula”
Ancient Greek
Greek
Κιμμέρια (Kimmeria)
“The land of the Cimmerians in classical geographical tradition”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ḱei- / *ḱim-
“Distant ancestral roots behind the ethnonymic traditions of the Cimmerians”