Turkish

American  

[tur-kish] / ˈtɜr kɪʃ /

adjective

1. of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or derived from Turkey or the Turks.

2. of or relating to the language of Turkey.

3. (loosely) Turkic.

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noun

1. the Turkic language of Turkey. Turk, Turk.

2. (loosely) Turkic.

Turkish British  

/ ˈtɜːkɪʃ /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Turkey, its people, or their language

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noun

1. the official language of Turkey, belonging to the Turkic branch of the Altaic family See also Osmanli

Other Word Forms

• Turkishness noun
• anti-Turkish adjective
• non-Turkish adjective
• pro-Turkish adjective
• pseudo-Turkish adjective

Etymology

Origin of Turkish

First recorded in 1535–45; Turk + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

In addition, most participants were adults of Turkish ethnicity, so the findings may not fully apply to other populations.

From Science Daily • Apr. 13, 2026

Last week, a Hamas delegation met Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators in Cairo to give its initial response to a proposal from the US-led Board of Peace for Palestinian groups to decommission their weapons.

From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul Saturday for talks on energy and navigation security, and efforts to end the war with Russia, the Turkish presidency said.

From Barron's • Apr. 4, 2026

It’s astonishing that Mr. Ozon is the first to make a French film of the novella, which previously yielded only two feature versions, one Italian and the other Turkish.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026

The carriages skirted the Street in Cairo—not yet open, another disappointment—and passed the Turkish Village and the Java Lunch Room.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson