Mongolian

adj, noun — 6 senses

Mongolian

adj

/mɒŋˈɡoʊliən/

Etymology Originally from Mongol + -ian, a translation (1706) of the German mongolisch, mongalisch. Subsequently, from the name of the country of Mongolia + -an.

1

Of or relating to Mongolia or its peoples, languages, or cultures.

  • He had a Sister, which according to the Mongalian custom lived in the devoted spiritual state.1706, Evert Ysbants Ides, Three years travels from Moscow over-land to China
  • The Mongolian characters...are written perpendicularly from above downward.1878, Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th edition, volume XVI:
1 more example
  • He usually had a heavy growth of dark stubble that made him look...rather like a Mongolian bandit.1985, Robert Whelan, Robert Capa: A Biography:
2

Anthropology, Human sciences, Sciences Dated Resembling or having some of the characteristic physical features of the mongoloid racial type.

  • The Mongolian variety inhabits eastern Asia, Finland, and Lapland in Europe, and includes the Esquimaux of North America.1828, John Stark, Elements of natural history:
  • The white (or Caucasian), the yellow (or Mongolian), and the black (or Ethiopian)1834, Penny cyclopædia of the Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge, volume II:
1 more example
  • It was not so much their Mongolian features that impressed everyone...1990, Louis de Bernières, The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts:
3

Archaic, Offensive Relating to or affected with Down syndrome.

  • The Mongolian type of idiocy occurs in more than ten per cent. of the cases which are presented to me.1866, John Langdon Haydon Down, Clinical lectures and reports by the medical and surgical staff of the London Hospital, volume II:
  • The condition known as trisomy 21 syndrome or mongolian idiocy (sometimes referred to as Down's syndrome) had long been an enigma.1965, H. Eldon Sutton, An introduction to human genetics:
Derived terms
Inner Mongolian, Mongolian death worm, Mongolian Empire, Mongolian gazelle, Mongolian gerbil, Mongolian lamb, Mongolian pheasant, Mongolian poplar, Mongolian spot, Mongolian wild ass, Mongolian wild horse, Outer Mongolian

Mongolian

noun

Etymology Originally from Mongol + -ian, a translation (1706) of the German mongolisch, mongalisch. Subsequently, from the name of the country of Mongolia + -an.

1

A native or inhabitant of Mongolia.

  • The Cossac there, The Calmuc, and Mungalian, round the bales In crowds resort.1757, John Dyer, The fleece, a poem, published 1807:
  • This day we saw some scattered tents of Mongalians, with their flocks.1763, John Bell, A journey from St. Petersburg to Pekin:
2 more examples
  • The Mongolians are the most nomadic of populations.1854, Robert G. Latham, Orr's Circle of the sciences: Organic nature:
  • Mongolians now regard animal husbandry as a low-status occupation.1990 September 1, New Scientist:
2

A group of languages from Mongolia, specifically Khalkha, the official language of Mongolia.

  • Khalka […] Mongolian possesses seven vowels and twenty consonants.1926, Neville J. Whymant, A Mongolian Grammar:
  • The Altaic family […] comprises about 40 languages, classified into three groups: Turkic, Mongolian, and Manchu-Tungus.1987, David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language:
1 more example
  • These inscriptions are in Mongolian and thus widen the appliqué's international connections.1990 April, Orientations:
3

A person of the mongoloid physical type.

  • A particular individual which the latter considered a Mongolian and the former assures us is an Ethiopian.1823 July, North American Revolution:
  • She was found to be one of the type of white women whose nasal organs appear never to have been developed, and who take to the loathsome Mongolian and his filthy hovel as blithely as a plague rat to a sewer.1903 February 8, The Truth, Sydney, page 3, column 4:
2 more examples
  • Extreme forms like the Australians, Negroes, Mongolians, and Europeans may be described as races because each has certain characteristics which set them off from other groups, and which are strictly hereditary.1938, Franz Boas et al., General Anthropology:
  • The thesis of this work was that native Americans were one race distinct from Eskimos and Mongolians.1988, Current Anthropology, volume 29:
Derived terms
Inner Mongolian, Outer Mongolian
Related terms
Mongol, Mongolia, Mongoloid, Wiktionary’s coverage of Mongolian terms, mn, mon, mon ⁠, a macrolanguage including:, khk ⁠, mvf ⁠

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.