According to Armenian sources, Shusha may be derived from the dialectal Armenian word "shosh"/"shush" (Armenian: շոշ/շուշ), meaning tree sprout or figuratively, a high place, first applied either to the adjacent village Shosh or to Shusha itself. One folk etymology connects it to another definition of "shosh" in the Karabakh dialect derived from Russian "шоссе", meaning street or highway, although this is unlikely because the names Shusha and Shosh are older than Russian influence on the Armenian language. In the first written reference to the settlement in a 15th century Armenian manuscript, the name is rendered as "Shushu". Besides the common Armenian name Shushi, the town has historically been referred to in Armenian by various names, including "Shoshi/Shushva Berd", "Shoshi Sghnakh", "Shoshvaghala", which all mean "Shosh/Shushi Fortress"; the settlement was also known simply as "Kala/Ghala", meaning fortress. Other historical names include "Shikakar Berd" ("Red Rock Fortress"), "Karaglkhi Sghnakh" ("Fortress on a Rock"), or simply "Kar" ("Rock", compare with adjacent village Karintak, "Under the Rock").