Tmutarakan

The story

1. ady · derived fromТамэтӏаркъу
2. Ancient Greek · derived fromΤαμάταρχα
3. Russian · borrowed fromТмутарака́нь
4. English todayTmutarakan

Borrowed from Russian Тмутарака́нь (Tmutarakánʹ), which is from the Byzantine Ancient Greek Ταμάταρχα (Tamátarkha). The Greek toponym is likely of Adyghe origin, deriving from the local native name West Circassian Тамэтӏаркъу (Tamɛtʼarqʷu). The Russian spelling is the result of a folk etymology that altered the word to fit the native Russian words тьма (tʹma, “darkness”) and тарака́н (tarakán, “cockroach”) (literally "dark cockroach").