köken: First attested as Middle Korean 그란 (kulan), 거란 (kelan). A pre-Sino-Korean loan from Middle Chinese 契丹 (khj+t tan), with typical Middle Korean lenition of intervocalic /t/ to /ɾ/.
köken: Modern reconstruction of Khitan 𘱿𘲫 (*qid ún, small script) or 𘱿𘱤 (*qid i, small script). Compare Middle Mongol 乞塔^惕 (kitat); Old Turkic 𐰶𐰃𐱃𐰪 (q̊²it¹ń /qïtań/), Old Uyghur 𐽲𐽶𐾀𐽰𐽶 (qytʾy /qïtay/), 𐽲𐾀𐽰𐽶 (qtʾy /qïtay/), 𐽲𐽶𐾀𐽶 (qyty /qïtay/).