Balkans

//ˈbɔl.kənz// name

name ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A cultural region and peninsula in Southeast Europe, roughly equivalent to the area covered by Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, sometimes including Romania, Slovenia, and European Turkey. plural, plural-only

    "As the Ottomans' victories in the Balkans multiplied, increasing numbers of Anatolian warriors flocked to their ranks, and their territorial conquests grew."

Synonyms

All synonyms
balkan peninsulabalkan mountain rangebalkan mountainsbalkan peninsula

Example

More examples

"Legends of vampires flourish in the Balkans."

Etymology

Of Turkic origin; compare Turkish balkan (“wooded mountain range”). Probably unrelated to balk (“ridge of land”).

Related phrases

bosnia and herzegovinapaleo balkan

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.