the oxford english dictionary says the ethnonym "bosniak" was first used in english by the british diplomat and historian paul rycaut in 1680. he spelled it "bosnack" to sound like the post-classical latin "bosniacus" (possibly earlier than 1682), the french word "bosniaque" (1695 or earlier) or the german word "bosniak" (1737 or earlier). an ethnonym is a name of a group of people. the 1836 version of "penny cyclopaedia" v. 231/1 uses the modern spelling: