таракан

• тарака́нъ (tarakán) — pre-1918 spelling

Unclear. Attested since 15th century as тороканъ (torokan). Cognate with Ukrainian тарган (tarhan), торган (torhan), Belarusian таркан (tarkan). Usually claimed to be of Turkic origin:

• Per Räsänen, the word might have came from Chuvash тар-акан (tar-ak̬an, “(one who) runs away”).
• According to Krylov and Fedotov, borrowed from Turkic tarakan, found in many Turkic languages (e.g. Tatar таракан (taraqan)). However, they are usually considered Russian borrowings.
• Jakobson and Dobrodomov claim that it comes from the derogatory use of the word тархан (tarxan, “tarkhan”).
• From Turkic tara-ɣan (the one who disperses), which is phonologically questionable due to g > k change. However, also see the Ukrainian cognate. This is supported by Dmitriev.

• IPA^(key): [tərɐˈkan]

• Audio:

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тарака́н • (tarakán) m anim (genitive тарака́на, nominative plural тарака́ны, genitive plural тарака́нов, relational adjective тарака́ний, diminutive тарака́нчик, augmentative тарака́нище)

1. cockroach
   • 1925, Михаил Булгаков, “Глава 1. Куррикулюм витэ профессора Персикова”, in Роковые яйца; English translation from K. M. Cook-Horujy, transl., The Fateful Eggs, Moscow: Raduga Publishers, 1990:

     Персиков оставшиеся 20 экземпляров квакш попробовал перевести на питание тараканами, но и тараканы куда-то провалились, показав своё злостное отношение к военному коммунизму.

     Persikov ostavšijesja 20 ekzempljarov kvakš poproboval perevesti na pitanije tarakanami, no i tarakany kuda-to provalilisʹ, pokazav svojó zlostnoje otnošenije k vojennomu kommunizmu.

     Vlas should have been fed with flour and the toads with flour weevils, but the disappearance of the former determined that of the latter likewise, and Persikov tried to shift the twenty surviving specimens of tree-frogs onto a diet of cockroaches, but then the cockroaches disappeared too, thereby demonstrating their hostile attitude to war communism.

• → Armenian: տառական (taṙakan)
• → Azerbaijani: tarakan
• → Finnish: torakka
• → Georgian: ტარაკანი (ṭaraḳani)
• → Ingrian: tarakkana
• → Kildin Sami: тоаркан (tårkan)
• → Polish: karakan
• → Romanian: taracan
• → Skolt Sami: toorkân
• → Yiddish: טאַראַקאַן (tarakan)

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “таракан”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress