English Explanatory Dictionary

Xi'an

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name
  1. The provincial capital of Shaanxi, China; a subprovincial city in central China famed as the former capital of numerous Chinese dynasties, also known as Chang'an among other historical names.
  2. A district of Liaoyuan, Jilin, China.

Pronunciation

/ˈʃiˈæn/ /ˈʃiːˈɑːn/ sēʹǎnʹ shēʹänʹ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sumxr-Xi’an.wav

Word forms

Xi'an Xian Sian Sianfu Hsian Hsi-an Hsi-an-fu Singan Si-ngan Si-ngan-fou

Etymology

c. mid/late 20th c., the atonal Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 西安 (Xī'ān), usually glossed as meaning "Western Peace" but inclusive of the idea of "Western Pacification" or "Pacified Area", first adopted under the Ming Dynasty in 1369 as the city was conquered from the Yuan and protected with a new wall. An apostrophe is usually required in pinyin to mark any non-initial syllable beginning with a, o, or e in a multi-syllable word. (See 隔音符號 /隔音符号 (géyīn fúhào) for more.) In this case, the apostrophe happens to distinguish the two separate syllables of xī and ān from the monosyllabic words xiān, xián, xiǎn, and xiàn.

Synonyms

Feng Fengjing Hao Haojing Fenghao Zongzhou Daxing Chang'an Fengyuan Anxi Jingzhao Xijing
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