Uighur

noun

Ui·​ghur ˈwē-ˌgu̇r How to pronounce Uighur (audio)
variants or Uyghur or less commonly Uigur
plural Uighur or Uighurs or Uyghur or Uyghurs also Uigur or Uigurs
1
: a member of a Turkic people powerful in Mongolia and eastern Turkestan between the 8th and 12th centuries a.d. who constitute a majority of the population of Chinese Turkestan
2
: the Turkic language of the Uighurs
Uighur adjective
or Uyghur or less commonly Uigur

Examples of Uighur in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
The ban on Huawei’s 5G technology in the UK, human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims and Hong Kong’s National Security Law have all sparked criticism of China’s domestic and foreign activities. Matt Burgess, WIRED, 23 July 2020 One of my most memorable eating experiences was at a place called Dilara, an Uighur cuisine restaurant in Finsbury Park. Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune Europe, 1 Oct. 2024 Tens of thousands of Uighur men and women have been sterilized by the government. Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 23 Mar. 2024 The afternoon brought a familiar face: Abdullah Aktaş, another Uighur, who was nearly twenty years his senior and had been in Turkey long enough that he’d been granted citizenship. John Beck, Harper's Magazine, 4 Mar. 2022 Ethnically Uighur, Mamat left China at age 12 after an uprising in the region of East Turkestan, where most of Mamat’s extended family still lives. Ingrid Wickelgren, Scientific American, 20 Sep. 2023 The government is also sending Uighur children to Chinese-language boarding schools, destroying mosques and Muslim shrines, banning religious and cultural practices, and imprisoning members of the Uighur cultural elite. Sean R. Roberts, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2021 It can also be spelled in different ways: Uighur, Uygur or Uigur. Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 28 June 2023 Regular stories in the international press highlighting the treatment of Muslims in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region tend to obscure the fact that Islam was once highly regarded by Chinese emperors. Alessandra Cappelletti, Quartz, 12 Mar. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Uighur Uighur

First Known Use

1747, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of Uighur was in 1747

Dictionary Entries Near Uighur

Cite this Entry

“Uighur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Uighur. Accessed 16 Nov. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on Uighur

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!