Caucasian

1. of or relating to the Caucasus, a region in the east of Europe imbetween the Black Sea and the Aral Sea, especially referring to the peoples, languages, and cultures native to that region. 2. A term used briefly in the early years of the 20th century by anthropologists to refer to the race of human beings that inhabits Europe, Iran, parts of Central Asia, and the north of the Indian Sub-Continent. This use of the word derives from the theory that all of these populations ultimately originate in the Caucasus region. The word has passed out of common use in academic circles, but is still used in North American English to refer to ethnic Europeans - ironically because of this the largest groups considered to be Caucasians, the inhabitants of South Asia and Iran, would not be considered as such under this definition.