Abkhaz
noun
Ab·khaz ab-ˈkäs 
variants or Abkhazian or Abkhasian
ab-ˈkā-zh(ē-)ən
or less commonly Abkhas -ˈkä-zē-ən
ab-ˈkäs
ab-ˈkā-zh(ē-)ən,
-ˈkä-zē-ən
plural Abkhaz or Abkhazes or Abkhazians also Abkhas or Abkhasians
1
a
: a people living on the eastern shore of the Black Sea
b
: a member of this people
2
: the North Caucasian language of the Abkhaz people
Word History
Etymology
Abkhaz borrowed from Russian abkhaz, abkhazets, borrowed from Georgian abkhaz or Arabic & Persian & Ottoman Turkish abkhāz, all borrowed from an uncertain Caucasian source, whence also Late Greek Abaskoí, Abasgoí, Late Latin Abasgī; Abkhazian from Abkhazia, the Abkhaz homeland (ultimately borrowed from Late Greek Abasgía) + -an entry 1
First Known Use
1686, in the meaning defined at sense 1a