Karakoram

K5A1R1A1K5O1R1A1M3
UK/ˌkɑː.ɹəˈkɔː.ɹəm/UK/ˌkæɹ.əˈkɔː.ɹəm/US/ˌkɑɹ.əˈkɔɹ.əm/US/ˌkæɹ.əˈkɔɹ.əm/

proper noun

A mountain range located in Gilgit, Ladakh and Baltistan, containing more than sixty peaks above 7,000 m (22,960 ft), including K2, the second highest peak in the world.

UncommonScrabble 19

Meanings

proper noun

alternative Karakorum · alternative Caracorum

  1. A mountain range located in Gilgit, Ladakh and Baltistan, containing more than sixty peaks above 7,000 m (22,960 ft), including K2, the second highest peak in the world.

    The two sides also appeared to have dismantled recent construction along the river valley high in the Karakoram mountains, satellite images showed.

    2020 July 7, AIJAZ HUSSAIN, EMILY SCHMALL, SAM MCNEIL, “Indian, Chinese soldiers move away from site of deadly clash”, in AP News, archived from the original on 18 May 2022
    2 more examples

    The Labiate genus Perovskia, to which the plant here figured belongs, is a somewhat anomalous one, comprising four species, two of which are natives of Turkestan with a third confined to Beluchistan, and a fourth, the one now depicted, which extends from the mountains of Afghanistan through the Western Himalaya to Western Tibet. In the Karakoram Range it is met with at elevations up to 10,000 feet above sea level.

    1912, Curtis's Botanical Magazine, volume 8, page 8441

    To reach the Karakoram the expedition had to cross the vast mountainous region which lies between Kashmir and Chinese Turkestan, taking a different route each way.

    1912, Filippo De Filippi, “Introduction”, in Karakoram and Western Himalaya, 1909, New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, →OCLC, →OL, page xvii

Origin

  1. Turkic
  2. EnglishKarakoram

Ultimately from a Turkic language, literally meaning "black gravel". See Ottoman Turkish قره (qara, “black”) and possibly قوروم (kurum, “soot”) (kurum) and compare Urdu قراقرم (qarāquram) / قرہ قرم (qara quram).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 喀喇崑崙 /喀喇昆仑
  • 喀喇崑崙 /喀喇昆仑 (Kālākūnlún)mountain range
Czech Karákóram, Karákoram
  • Karákórammountain range
  • Karákorammountain range
Hindi काराकोरम
  • काराकोरम (kārākoram)mountain range
Italian Karakorum
  • Karakorummountain range
Polish Karakorum
  • Karakorummountain range
Turkish Karakurum
  • Karakurummountain range
Urdu قَراقُرَم, قَرَہ قُرَم
  • قَراقُرَم (qarāquram)mountain range
  • قَرَہ قُرَم (qara quram)mountain range
Cite this entry
APA

Karakoram. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Karakoram

MLA

“Karakoram.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Karakoram. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Karakoram,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Karakoram.

Source: Karakoram on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.