Etymology

Ashgabat

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Today it means: The capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. Full definition →

Turkmen Aşgabat ← Classical Persian عِشْقآبَاد
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The story

  1. Classical Persian · derived fromعِشْقآبَاد
  2. Turkmen · borrowed fromAşgabat
  3. English todayAshgabat

Borrowed from Turkmen Aşgabat, from Classical Persian عِشْقآبَاد (išq-ābād, literally “city of love”), compound of عِشْق (išq, “love”) + آبَاد (ābād, “city”). Alternatively, some historians believe that the city was originally named after Ashk/Arshk, the founder of the Arsacid Dynasty, and hold that the term عِشْق (išq) was a reinterpretation influenced by folk etymology.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.