The Târnava (full name in ; ; ; ) is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It is formed by the confluence of the

Târnava Mare The Târnava Mare ("Great Târnava"; ; ) is a river in Romania. Its total length is and its basin size is . Its source is in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, near the sources of the Mureș and Olt in Harghita County. It flows through the Roma ...

and

Târnava Mică The Târnava Mică ("Small Târnava"; ; ) is a river in Romania. Its total length is , and its drainage basin area is . Its source is in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, in Harghita County. It flows to the west through the Romanian counties Hargh ...

in the town of

Blaj Blaj (; archaically spelled as ''Blaș''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Blußendref'') is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 17,816 inhabitants as of 2021. The city administers eight villages: Deleni-Obârșie ('' ...

. The Târnava flows into the Mureș after 23 km near the town of

Teiuș Teiuș (, ; ) is a town in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania, with a population of 6,308 inhabitants as of 2021. The town, declared as such in 1994, administers four villages: Beldiu (''Marosbéld''), Căpud (''Magyarkapud''), Coșlariu Nou ('' ...

. The two source rivers of the Târnava are the Târnava Mare and Târnava Mică, and its tributaries include the Tur, Izvorul Iezerului,

Secaș Secaș (; ) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Checheș, Crivobara, Secaș (commune seat) and Vizma. History Secaș first appears in written history in 1440. At that time it was assigned to Arad County, w ...

, and the

Dunărița The Dunărița is a right tributary of the river Târnava in Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary ...

. Its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

covers an area of .Analysis of the Tisza River Basin 2007
IPCDR

Etymology

The name Târnava is of

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

origin from ''trn'',See

Trnka Trnka (feminine Trnková) is a Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, ...

Trnava Trnava (, , ; , also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of the Trnava Region and the Trnava District. It is the seat o ...

, etc. meaning " thorn". Other proposed origins for the river's Romanian name is ''Turn'' (tower) + ''dav'' from Dacian ''dava'' (structure/fortress), i.e. "the river that flows amongst towers and ''davas''"; or a reference to the Romanian city of

Turda Turda (; , ; ; ) is a Municipiu, city in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, from the county seat, Cluj-Napoca, to which it is connected by the European route E81, and from nearby Câmpia ...

, forming ''Tur'' + ''ava'' from ''dava''. The Hungarian name Küküllő is of

Old Turkic Old Siberian Turkic, generally known as East Old Turkic and often shortened to Old Turkic, was a Siberian Turkic language spoken around East Turkistan and Mongolia. It was first discovered in inscriptions originating from the Second Turkic Kh ...

origin from ''kukel'' meaning

sloe ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in Ba ...

, and is thought to have originated from the Avar people.

References

Rivers of Alba County Place names of Slavic origin in Romania Rivers of Romania {{Alba-river-stub