Gagauz
/ɡəˈɡaʊz/noun
A member of a Turkic-speaking ethnic group traditionally living mainly in Moldova and southwestern Ukraine.
Did you know?The Gagauz speak a Turkic language but are traditionally Eastern Orthodox Christians, a striking combination shaped by centuries on the Black Sea frontier.
Etymological Timeline
Early Medieval Period
Turkic
Oghuz
“Name of a major confederation of Turkic tribes; often proposed as the distant source of Gagauz, though the connection is debated.”
Medieval Period
Turkic
Uz / Oğuz
“Forms associated with Oghuz tribal identity in medieval Turkic and Islamic sources; some theories interpret Gagauz as containing a transformed Oghuz element.”
18th–19th Century
Ottoman Turkish and Balkan usage
Gagauz
“Ethnonym used for the Turkic-speaking, Orthodox Christian communities emerging as a distinct population in the Balkans and Black Sea region.”
19th Century
Russian
Гагаузы (Gagauzy)
“Plural Russian form used in imperial administrative and ethnographic writing for the Gagauz people.”
Modern English
English
Gagauz
“English ethnonym for the people, their language, and the related autonomous territory in Moldova.”