Caucasian
Caucasian is originally a geographical term, meaning relative or pertaining to the Caucasus region of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It has in time acquired other specific meanings:
- in linguistics, the languages of the Caucasus are a large number of languages spoken in the Caucasus area; often specifically those that have no demonstrated relatives outside of that region, which are classified into the South, Northwest, Northeast, and North-central Caucasian language families.
- in physical anthropology, the Caucasian race is meant for a specific race of Homo sapiens, sometimes given a Latin designation such as "Varietas Caucasia" (sic), which does not follow the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.
A Caucasoid is not necessarily white skinned.
- In common usage in the Europe, Asia and former USSR countries "Caucasian" is a collective term which refers to anyone descended from native ethnicities of Caucasus.
- in forensic anthropology and census contexts, especially in the United States, the Caucasian type is a specific combination of physical attributes that separate themselves from Negroids, Mongoloids and Asiatics.
- in common usage and political contexts in the USA, Canada, Australia, and Singapore, Caucasian refers to light complexioned people indigenous to, or descended from Europe, Northern Africa.
- In North America, Caucasian usually means a white person of European descent.
- Approximately 42% of American Latinos classified themselves as "White/Caucasian" on the 2000 Census, and a substantial portion of the other 58% classified themselves as multiracial.
- Usage of the term "Caucasian" for "White Colored Person" is common in many countries of the Anglosphere, but it is not universal. In particular, the term is known in the United Kingdom but is not in common use.
Confusingly, in direct opposition to the most common colloquial English-language meaning of the word (white-skinned person), the Russian language embeds certain stereotypes of Caucasian people. Typically, they are considered dark, with similarly negative connotations to the English ideas of darkness[1]. Some people from the Caucaus refute these prejudices; others ignore them. See also caucasophobia.
- in bartending, a Caucasian is a mixed drink also referred to as a White Russian.