Black Sea

Black Sea in the Crimea

Meaning

Proper Noun

Origin

  • (modern Turkish Karadeniz) (from kara + deniz). Compare Russian Чёрное море. The Turkish word is derived from the languages of the Near East, which is ultimately from an name: the primary Ancient Greek name Πόντος Ἄξεινος (first attested in 462 BC) is a rendering of *axšaina-. The naming is according to the system in which color names indicated the cardinal points (black [or dark] for north, red for south, white for west, and green or light blue for east); compare Red Sea. It is supposedly named as such by the Achaemenids; see Iranica for details.

Modern English dictionary

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