Xi'an
Syllables: Xi·an/ˈʃiˈæn/
Xi'an proper noun: 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.
Proper noun
Xi'an
- 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.
- THE SILK ROAD was actually a perilous network of routes. It was hazardous to monks and pilgrims carrying Buddhist teachings between India and China and even more hazardous to traders, who intended to exchange gold, wool, horses, jade, and glass for silk. The road started in what is now Xi'an, in...1984 January, Nina Hyde, “The Queen of Textiles”, in National Geographic, volume 165, number 1, page 30
- We began the trip at the ancient capital of Xi'an, where the Chinese put on an elaborate and beautiful welcoming ceremony. The next day we had the opportunity to walk among the rows of the famous terra-cotta warriors, and to have a roundtable discussion with Chinese citizens in the small village of...2005, Bill Clinton, My Life, volume II, New York: Vintage Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 434
- A district of Liaoyuan, Jilin, China.
- In February 2009, the Xi’an District People’s Court in Liaoyuan city, Jilin province, reported that when preparing for a trial involving Falun Gong and other “cult organizations,” the court must first “petition” the municipal 6-10 Office, and only after receiving an affirmative response is the...2009 October 10, “Human Rights”, in Congressional-Executive Commission on China Annual Report 2009, Congressional-Executive Commission on China, page 126
- In 2008, Liaoyuan became one of twelve important cities for the economic[…]study, the Xi’an district was chosen as the study area considering the distribution characteristics in Liaoyuan.2012, Qing Chang, Xue Li, “Land Destruction Extent Assessment Based on RS and GIS in Liaoyuan Mining Area, China”, in 2012 2nd International Conference on Remote Sensing, Environment and...
Xi'an meaning in Hindi, Arabic, Persian and Vietnamese
Xi'an in Hindi
- capital of Shaanxi and former capital of China — see also Chang'an
- शिआन śiān
Xi'an in Arabic
- capital of Shaanxi and former capital of China — see also Chang'an
- شِيَان šiyān, شِيئَان šīʔān
Xi'an in Persian
- capital of Shaanxi and former capital of China — see also Chang'an
- شیآن ši'ân, شیان šiyân
Xi'an in Vietnamese
- capital of Shaanxi and former capital of China — see also Chang'an
- Tây An
Examples of Xi'an in a sentence
- We began the trip at the ancient capital of Xi'an, where the Chinese put on an elaborate and beautiful welcoming ceremony.2005, Bill Clinton, My Life, volume II, New York: Vintage Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 434:
- Then on Wednesday, after our formal talks concluded, Joan, Eleanor, and I traveled to the ancient city of Xi'an, home of the extraordinary exhibit of terra-cotta soldiers.2010, Walter Mondale, David Hage, The Good Fight: A Life in Liberal Politics, Scribner, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 220:
Synonyms of Xi'an
Forms of Xi'an
| alternative proscribed sometimes | Xian |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | Sian |
| alternative form (obsolete) | Sianfu |
| alternative form (obsolete) | Hsian |
| alternative form (obsolete) | Hsi-an |
| alternative form (obsolete) | Hsi-an-fu |
| alternative form (obsolete) | Singan |
| alternative form (obsolete) | Si-ngan |
| alternative form (obsolete) | Si-ngan-fou |
Origin of Xi'an
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.
Words that rhyme with Xi'an
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- clan
- ban
- Cheyenne
- Longshan
- Nanshan
- plan
- an
- gan
- Gushan
- han
- Hongshan
- mann
- nan
- stan
- tan
- unman
- Baoshan
- Dongshan
- flan
- Heshan
- Jinshan
- langshan
- marzipan
- panne
- Qishan
- ran
- rattan
- bantustan
- began
- chan
- Fengshan
- Fran
- Guanshan
- Hengshan
- Huangshan
- Huishan
- japan
- Lausanne
- Lianshan
- Lushan
- Marianne
- Pingshan
- scran
- sedan
- shan
- than
- trapan
- trepan
Questions about Xi'an
- What does Xi'an mean?
- Xi'an means 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.
- What is Xi'an in Hindi?
- Xi'an in Hindi is शिआन (śiān). See Xi'an meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use Xi'an in a sentence?
- We began the trip at the ancient capital of Xi'an, where the Chinese put on an elaborate and beautiful welcoming ceremony.
- What part of speech is Xi'an?
- Xi'an is a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce Xi'an?
- Xi'an is pronounced /ˈʃiˈæn/.
Words near Xi'an in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Xi'an (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sumxr-Xi’an.wav.
Cite this entry: “Xi'an.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/xi%27an. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.