shih tzu
UK/ˈʃɪtzuː/US/ˈʃɪtzuː/
shih tzu is the alternative letter-case form of Shih Tzu.
Noun capitalized: Shih Tzu
Shih Tzu (plural Shih Tzus or Shih Tzu)
- A small dog breed which originated in China; a dog of that breed.
- In their native land the Pekinese dogs are known as "Shih-Tzu-Kom," which means the "Lion-Dog."[1904, Herbert Compton, The Twentieth Century Dog: Compiled from the Contributions of over Five Hundred Experts, volume I (Non-sporting), London: G. Richards, →OCLC, page 263
- In New York, I had the great pleasure of meeting Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Morgan who showed me their dogs from Pekin. Mr. Morgan has written several articles on Lhasa Apso and Shih Tzu.1937 January–June, The American Kennel Gazette, volume 54, part 1, New York, N.Y.: American Kennel Club, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 166
- Synonyms:
- Chinese lion dog, chrysanthemum dog
Synonyms of shih tzu
- Chinese lion dog
- chrysanthemum dog
Forms of shih tzu
| plural | shih tzus |
|---|---|
| plural | shih tzu |
| plural | Shih Tzus |
| plural | Shih Tzu |
| alternative form | Shih-Tzu |
| alternative form | shih tzu |
| alternative form | shih-tzu |
| alternative form | Shihtzu |
| alternative form | shihtzu |
Origin of shih tzu
From the Wade–Giles romanisation shih¹-tzŭ⁵ of Mandarin 獅子 /狮子 (shīzi, “lion”), a contraction of 獅子狗 /狮子狗 (shīzigǒu, literally “lion dog”), from the breed's resemblance to Chinese guardian lion statues. The original Mandarin word now refers only to the Pekingese, while this breed now properly goes by the name 西施犬 (xīshīquǎn, literally “Xi Shi dog”).
Words formed from shih tzu
Questions about shih tzu
- What does shih tzu mean?
- Shih tzu means a small dog breed which originated in China; a dog of that breed.
- What is shih tzu the alternative letter-case form of?
- Shih tzu is the alternative letter-case form of Shih Tzu.
- What part of speech is shih tzu?
- Shih tzu is a noun.
- How do you pronounce shih tzu?
- Shih tzu is pronounced /ˈʃɪtzuː/ (UK).
- What is the plural of shih tzu?
- The plural of shih tzu is shih tzus.
Words near shih tzu in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: shih tzu (page history and authors); Shih Tzu (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-Shih Tzu.ogg.
Cite this entry: “shih tzu.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/shih_tzu. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.