The story
- Arabic · derived fromمَكَان
- Persian · derived fromمکان“place”
- English todayTaklamakan
Most researchers agree that the second part is derived from Persian مکان (makân, “place”), from Arabic مَكَان (makān). The etymology of Takla is less clear, however. Being first attested in Chagatai as ترک مکان (trk mkʾn /tark-i makān/), likely from ترک (trk /tark/, “abandonment”) + مکان (mkʾn /makān/, “place”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.