Yangtze

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name

The chief river of central China and the third longest river in the world, flowing a total of 6300 km.

Pronunciation

/ˈjæŋtsi/ /ˈjæŋzi/ /ˈjɑŋzi/ /ˈjɑŋtsə/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Yangtze.wav yǎngʹtsēʹ yǎngʹzēʹ yängʹzēʹ yängʹtsə yängʹdzûʹ

Word forms

Yangtze Yangzi Yang-tze Yangtse Yang-tse Yangtzi Yangtsz Yang-tzu Yang-tzŭ Iansu Iansuchian Yangtze-kiang

Etymology

An irregular romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 揚子 /扬子 (Yángzǐ) and 揚子江 /扬子江 (Yángzǐ Jiāng), a former name for the lower stretches of the Yangtze derived from 揚子津 (Yángzǐjīn)(zh-wikipedia), a former ferry crossing near Yangzhou, applied by foreign visitors to the entire length of the river. The folk etymology that it means "Son of the Ocean" derives from the homophonic misnomer 洋子江 which was apparently given to Matteo Ricci, whose posthumously published journals popularized the river in Europe as Latin Iansu and Iansuchian.

Synonyms

Chang Jiang Chang River Long River Jiang Ch'ang Chiang Kiang Blue River Yangzi Jiang

Derived words

Yangtzean Yangtze giant softshell turtle Yangtze River dolphin

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