Kurdish

[ kur-dish, koor- ]

adjective

1. of or relating to the Kurds or their language.
2. of or relating to Kurdistan, its people, or their language.

noun

1. the language of the Kurds, an Iranian language.

Kurdish

/ ˈkɜːdɪʃ /

noun

1. the language of the Kurds, belonging to the West Iranian branch of the Indo-European family

adjective

1. of or relating to the Kurds or their language

Word History and Origins

Origin of Kurdish¹

First recorded in 1805–15; Kurd + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

The Syrian Kurd from Afrin, a city in northern Syria bombed and occupied by Turkish forces in 2018, mixes Kurdish and Arabic in her refreshing and solemn music.

From Ozy

She wanted to take the perpetrator to court, but in court she was not given a Kurdish-speaking interpreter.

From Time

Three years later, YPG’s photos and updates about the Turkish military’s brutal attacks on the Kurdish minority in Syria still can’t be viewed by Facebook users inside Turkey.

From ProPublica

Focused on corruption and patronage rather than divisive identity politics, Kaftancioglu’s campaign engaged a cross-section of Istanbullus frustrated with the state of the economy, including Kurdish voters who had long mistrusted the CHP.

From Time

As Turkey launched a military offensive against Kurdish minorities in neighboring Syria in early 2018, Facebook’s top executives faced a political dilemma.

From ProPublica

While Kurdish forces have advanced on some fronts in Iraq, the fight here in Syria seems far from over yet.

From The Daily Beast

During the intense firefight that followed, four Kurdish fighters died, including three of Ahmed's cousins.

From The Daily Beast

Kurdish forces declared victory and freed Yazidi holdouts, with help from U.S. air power.

From The Daily Beast

As Kurdish leaders acknowledge, liberating Mosul is beyond the capability of the peshmerga and government forces will be needed.

From The Daily Beast

Also, the next Hobby Lobbys, female Kurdish fighters and more.

From The Daily Beast

A Kurdish brigand chief with a large banking account in England sounds a wildly impossible conception.

From Project Gutenberg

He generously offered to send Kurdish irregulars of another tribe, Marku men, who might be persuaded to sit in the village.

From Project Gutenberg

He called for volunteers who would come down with him and cut across the Kurdish advance in the effort to gain that point.

From Project Gutenberg

Some Kurdish gentlemen were disposed to welcome the coming of the English for other and more personal reasons.

From Project Gutenberg

They now grew distinctly assiduous in the payment of a series of return calls upon their lately exulting Kurdish enemies.

From Project Gutenberg