Editing Caucasus (section)

==Origin of the name==
[[Pliny the Elder]]'s ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' (77–79 AD) derives the name of the Caucasus from a [[Scythian language|Scythian]] name, ''Croucasis'', which supposedly means 'shimmering with snow'.<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''Natural History'', [http://attalus.org/translate/pliny_hn6a.html#50 vi.(19).50].</ref> German linguist [[Paul Kretschmer]] notes that the [[Latvian language|Latvian]] word ''kruvesis'' also means 'frozen mud'.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kretschmer |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Kretschmer |date=1928 |title=Weiteres zur Urgeschichte der Inder |trans-title=More about the Pre-History of the Indians |journal=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete der indogermanischen Sprachen [Journal of Comparative Linguistic Research into Indo-European Philology] |language=de |volume=55 |pages=75–103}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Kretschmer |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Kretschmer |date=1930 |title=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete der indogermanischen Sprachen [Journal of Comparative Linguistic Research into Indo-European Philology] |volume=57 |pages=251–255}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=kruveši {{!}} Tēzaurs |url=https://tezaurs.lv/kruve%C5%A1i:1 |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=tezaurs.lv}}</ref>

[[Isidore of Seville]]'s ''[[Etymologiae|Etymologies]]'' ({{circa|625 AD}}) also says the name means shining white like snow:

{{Blockquote|text=Thus, toward the east, where it rises to a greater height, it is called the Caucasus, due to the whiteness of its snow, for in an eastern language, caucasus means "white," that is, shining white with a very thick snow cover. For the same reason the Scythians, who live next to this mountain range, call it Croacasim, for among them whiteness or snow is called casim. 3. The Taurus range is likewise called the Caucasus by many.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barney, Lewis, Beach, Berghof |first=Stephen A., W. J., J. A., Oliver |title=The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-83749-1 |location=New York, United States |pages=297–298 |language=English}}</ref>}}

In the ''[[Primary Chronicle|Tale of Past Years]]'' (1113 AD), it is stated that [[Old East Slavic]] Кавкасийскыѣ горы (''Kavkasijskyě gory'') came from [[Ancient Greek]] Καύκασος (''Kaúkasos''),<ref name="ReferenceA" /> which, according to M. A. Yuyukin, is a compound word that can be interpreted as the 'mountain of the seagull(s)' (καύ-: καύαξ, καύηξ, -ηκος, κήξ, κηϋξ 'a kind of seagull' + the reconstructed *κάσος 'mountain' or 'rock' richly attested both in place and personal names).<ref>{{Cite conference |last=Yuyukin |first=M. A. |date=18–20 June 2012 |title=О происхождении названия Кавказ |trans-title=On the Origin of the Name of the Caucasus |url=http://philology.ru/linguistics1/yuyukin-12.htm |language=ru |location=[[Saint Petersburg]] |pages=893–899 and 919 |isbn=978-5-02-038298-5 |access-date=19 March 2017 |book-title=Индоевропейское языкознание и классическая филология – XVI (материалы чтений, посвященных памяти профессора И.&nbsp;М.&nbsp;Тронского)}}</ref>

In Georgian tradition, the term Caucasus is derived from [[Caucas]] ({{lang-ka|კავკასოსი}} ''Ḳavḳasosi''), the son of the Biblical [[Togarmah]] and legendary forefather of the [[Nakh peoples]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Qoranashvili|first=G.|title=Questions of Ethnic Identity According to Leonti Mroveli's Historical Chronicles, Studies, Vol. 1|location=Tbilisi}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.circassianworld.com/pdf/The_Vainakhs_George_Anchabadze.pdf |title=The Vainakhs (The Chechen and Ingush) |author = George Anchabadze |access-date=November 3, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225132940/https://www.circassianworld.com/pdf/The_Vainakhs_George_Anchabadze.pdf |archive-date=February 25, 2012 }}</ref>

According to [[Germany|German]] [[Philology|philologists]] [[Otto Schrader (philologist)|Otto Schrader]] and Alfons A. Nehring, the Ancient Greek word Καύκασος (''Kaukasos'') is connected to [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''hauhs'' 'high' as well as [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] ''kaũkas'' 'hillock' and ''kaukarà'' 'hill, top', [[Russian language|Russian]] ''куча'' 'heap'.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1953–1958 |title=Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch |encyclopedia=Indogermanische Bibliothek herausgegeben von Hans Krahe. Reihe 2: Wörterbüche [Indo-European Library Edited by Hans Krahe. Series 2: Dictionaries] |publisher=Carl Winter |location=[[Heidelberg]] |last=Vasmer |first=Max Julius Friedrich |author-link=Max Vasmer |volume=1 |language=de |trans-title=Russian Etymological Dictionary}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Schrader |first=Otto |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_dyS5AAAAIAAJ |title=Reallexikon der indogermanischen Altertumskunde: Grundzüge einer Kultur- und Völkergeschichte Alteuropas |date=1901 |publisher=Karl J. Trübner |location=[[Strasbourg]] |language=de |trans-title=Real Lexicon of the Indo-Germanic Antiquity Studies: Basic Principles of a Cultural and People's History of Ancient Europe |author-link=Otto Schrader (philologist)}}</ref> British linguist Adrian Room claims that *''kau-'' also means 'mountain' in [[Pelasgian language|Pelasgian]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Room |first=Adrian |url=https://archive.org/details/placenamesofworl00room |title=Placenames of the World: Origins and Meanings of the Names for over 5000 Natural Features, Countries, Capitals, Territories, Cities, and Historic Sites |date=1997 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=978-0-7864-0172-7 |location=[[Jefferson, North Carolina|Jefferson, NC]] |quote=*kau-meaning. |url-access=registration}}</ref> though this is speculative given that Pelasgian is so poorly known.