Yellow River

/ˈjɛloʊ ˈɹɪvə(ɹ)/

Yellow River proper noun: the chief river of the North China Plain, the second-longest river in China and sixth-longest river system on Earth, historically prone to massive floods which repeatedly drastically changed its course; it passes through Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong provinces as well as Ningxia and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regions.

Image: Esiymbro, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Proper noun (1)

the Yellow River

The chief river of the North China Plain, the second-longest river in China and sixth-longest river system on Earth, historically prone to massive floods which repeatedly drastically changed its course; it passes through Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong provinces as well as Ningxia and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regions.
- That Riuer of Nanquin which I called (Yamſu or) Ianſu, the ſonne of the Sea, goeth Northward to Nanquin, and then returning ſomewhat Southward, runneth into the Sea with great force; fortie myles from which it paſſeth by Nanquin. And that from hence to Pequin there might bee paſſage by Riuers, the...1625, [Samuel] Purchas, “A Generall Collection and Historical Representation of the Iesuites Entrance into Iapon and China, vntill Their Admission in the Royall Citie of Nanquin”, in Purchas His...
- Firſt of all, There are in China two famous large Rivers, namely Kiang, and the Yellow River... The Yellow River, by ſtrangers ſo called from the colour of the water, occaſioned by the Yellowneſs of the ground, is named Hoang in the Chineſe Language, and ſeems at firſt to be very Mooriſh; but the...1669, John Nievhoff, translated by John Ogilby, An Embassy from the Eaſt-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham Emperour of China, London: John Macock, →OCLC, pages 235–236
Synonyms:

Huang He, Huang Ho, Hwang Ho, China's Sorrow

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Yellow river

the Yellow river

Alternative letter-case form of Yellow River.
- In Northwestern China, a great range crosses the Yellow river, in its course between Shansi and Shensi, and trending N. E. by E., connects the mountain knot of Northwestern Sz'chuen with that of the Ourang daban north of the Tushïkau gate of the Great Wall. Nearly parallel to this is another range...1866 October, Raphael Pumpelly, Geological Researches in China, Mongolia, and Japan: During the Years 1862-1865, Washington City: Smithsonian Institution, →OCLC, page 2
- The wild tribes of the Huai brought oyster-pearls and fish, and their baskets were full of dark embroideries and pure white silken fabrics. You float along the Huai and Szŭ and so reach the Yellow river.1895, Herbert J. Allen, “Ssŭma Chʻien's Historical Records”, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 97

Yellow River meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali

Yellow River in Hindi

Main river of the North China Plain: पीली नदी pīlī nadī

Yellow River in Tamil

Main river of the North China Plain: மஞ்சள் ஆறு mañcaḷ āṟu, மஞ்சள் நதி mañcaḷ nati

Yellow River in Marathi

Main river of the North China Plain: पिवळी नदी pivḷī nadī

Yellow River in Bengali

Main river of the North China Plain: হলুদ নদী holud nodi

More languagesFewer languages

Yellow River in Tagalog: Ilog na Dilaw
Yellow River in Arabic: اَلنَّهْر اَلْأَصْفَر an-nahr al-ʔaṣfar, خْوَانْغْخِي ḵwānḡḵī, هْوَانْغْهِي hwanḡ-hī
Yellow River in Thai: แม่น้ำฮวงโห mâe-náam huang-hŏh
Yellow River in Vietnamese: Hoàng Hà

Examples of Yellow River in a sentence

Firſt of all, There are in China two famous large Rivers, namely Kiang, and the Yellow River...1669, John Nievhoff, translated by John Ogilby, An Embassy from the Eaſt-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham...
China's Yellow River, or Huang he, is named for the yellow, sandy silt it carries in its water.2001, Kim Dramer, The Yellow River, Franklin Watts, →ISBN, page 7:
FOR MORE THAN 2,000 years, a branch of the Silk Road — the 600-mile-long Hexi Corridor — has angled southeast from the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts to the Yellow River loess plains.2020 May 11, Anna Sherman, “A Poetic Journey Through Western China”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11...
Central China, where multiple tributaries of the Yellow River crisscross and monsoon rains are exceptionally heavy, has long been subject to flooding.2021 July 22, Pei Lin Wu, Rebecca Tan, “Death toll in China floods climbs to 33 as rains spread and more cities call for help”, in The...

Synonyms of Yellow River

Forms of Yellow River

alternative form	Yellow river

Origin of Yellow River

Calque of Chinese 黃河 /黄河 (Huáng Hé), chiefly from the river's golden appearance as far west as Lanzhou caused by the enormous levels of silt it acquires from the Loess Plateau but also influenced by the color schema in wuxing ("Five Element") theory, which associates earth with the color 黃 /黄 (huáng), usually translated as "yellow" but also inclusive of shades modern English would consider golden, orange, brown, tan, etc. The earliest Chinese sources simply describe it as 河 (hé, “The River”) but it was later distinguished as the Yellow River after 河 (hé) began to replace 水 (shuǐ) as a generic term for creeks and smaller rivers.

Questions about Yellow River

What does Yellow River mean?: Yellow River means the chief river of the North China Plain, the second-longest river in China and sixth-longest river system on Earth, historically prone to massive floods which repeatedly drastically changed its course; it passes through Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong provinces as well as Ningxia and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regions.
What is Yellow River in Hindi?: Yellow River in Hindi is पीली नदी (pīlī nadī). See Yellow River meaning in Hindi.
How do you use Yellow River in a sentence?: Firſt of all, There are in China two famous large Rivers, namely Kiang, and the Yellow River...
What part of speech is Yellow River?: Yellow River is a proper noun.
How do you pronounce Yellow River?: Yellow River is pronounced /ˈjɛloʊ ˈɹɪvə(ɹ)/.

Words near Yellow River in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: Yellow River (page history and authors); Yellow river (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Yellow River.wav.

Cite this entry: “Yellow River.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/yellow_river. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.