Elbrus

Meaning

Proper Noun

• An inactive volcano located in the western Caucasus mountain range, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia, near the border of Georgia. Elbrus's highest peak is the highest mountain in the Caucasus, and in Russia.

Origin

• The word is a metathesis of Alborz, which is from Persian البرز, from Middle Persian hlbwlc, ultimately derived from Proto-Iranian *Harā Bṛjátī, a legendary mountain in Iranian mythology (compare Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬭𐬁⸱𐬠𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬰𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬍). *br̥játī is the feminine form of the adjective *br̥jáns, the reconstructed ancestor of modern Northern Kurdish berz ("high, tall") and modern Persian برز ("high, tall"). Harā may be interpreted as "watch" or "guard", from a Proto-Indo-European root *ser-.