Meanings
plural Hephthalites · alternative Ephthalite · alternative Haital · alternative Haithal
- historicalAny of a people who comprised a nomadic confederation in Central Asia during the 5th–6th centuries CE.
From the mid-fifth to the mid-sixth century Central Asia was ruled by the Hephthalite tribes. There are many gaps in our knowledge of the origin of the Hephthalites and the formation of their state, the first difficulty being that they are given different names in the various sources.
1999, B. A. Litvinsky, “6: The Hephthalite Empire”, in B. A. Litvinsky, Zhang Guang-Da, R. Shabani Samghabardi, editors, History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume III: The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, page 1352 more examples
F. Altheim assumes a Turkic origin for the Hephthalites. In his own studies he affirms, that the Hephthalites were Turkic-speaking Altaic tribes. The ethnonym "Hephtal" is drawn from the Turkic root: yap, meaning to do, to make, plus a^([sic]) verbal-nominal suffixes t and l. The reconstructed word is yap-t-il, which means "creator, maker" ("Schaffender, Tatiger"). The language of the Hephthalites was Turkic and the presence of the Iranian words is explained by elements that penetrated the Hephthalites language from the subordinated Iranian-speaking population.
2007, Adesh Katariya, Ancient History of Central Asia: Yuezhi origin Peoples, Adesh Katariya, page 1582009, Barbara A. West, "Hephthalites", article in Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania, Infobase Publishing (Facts on File), page 276, The Hephthalites probably began their history as a nomadic people, moving across the Asian steppes when political, military, or social situations favored their movement.
Synonyms: White Hun
comparative more Hephthalite · superlative most Hephthalite · alternative Ephthalite · alternative Haital · alternative Haithal
- Of or relating to the Hephthalites.
From the mid-fifth to the mid-sixth century Central Asia was ruled by the Hephthalite tribes. There are many gaps in our knowledge of the origin of the Hephthalites and the formation of their state, the first difficulty being that they are given different names in the various sources.
1999, B. A. Litvinsky, “6: The Hephthalite Empire”, in B. A. Litvinsky, Zhang Guang-Da, R. Shabani Samghabardi, editors, History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume III: The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, page 135Synonyms: Hephthalitic
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny of a people who comprised a nomadic confederation in Central Asia during the 5th–6th centuries CE.
adjectiveOf or relating to the Hephthalites.
Origin
- Ancient GreekἘφθαλίτης
- LatinEphthalītēs
- EnglishHephthalite
Hypercorrect respelling of Ephthalite, with unetymological initial h-, from Latin Ephthalītēs, from Ancient Greek Ἐφθαλίτης (Ephthalítēs), from Bactrian Ηβοδαλο (Ēbodalo) + Ancient Greek -ίτης (-ítēs).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek Ἐφθαλίτης
- Ἐφθαλίτης (Ephthalítēs)any of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
Bulgarian ефталит
- ефталит (eftalit)any of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
Chinese Mandarin 嚈噠 /𫩫哒, 嚈哒
- 嚈噠 /𫩫哒any of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
- 嚈哒 (Yèdá)any of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
- 挹怛 (Yìdá)any of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
- 挹闐 /挹阗 (Yìtián)any of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
Finnish hefthaliitti
- hefthaliittiany of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
French Ephthalite, ephthalite
- Ephthaliteany of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
- ephthaliteof or relating to the Hephthalites
Greek Εφθαλίτης
- Εφθαλίτης (Efthalítis)any of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
Hindi श्वेत हूण
- श्वेत हूण (śvet hūṇ)any of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
Italian eftalita
- eftalitaany of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
Latin Ephthalītēs, Ephthalīta
- Ephthalītēsany of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
- Ephthalītaany of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
Russian эфтали́т, эфтали́тский
- эфтали́т (eftalít)any of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
- эфтали́тский (eftalítskij)of or relating to the Hephthalites
Spanish heftalita
- heftalitaany of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
Swedish heftalit
- heftalitany of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
Turkish Eftalit
- Eftalitany of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
Ukrainian ефталі́т
- ефталі́т (eftalít)any of a Central Asian people who were in nomadic confederation during the 5th–6th centuries
Cite this entry
Hephthalite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hephthalite
“Hephthalite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hephthalite. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Hephthalite,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hephthalite.
Source: Hephthalite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.