Dictionary

Great Wall of China en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

First used by Daniel Defoe on page 29 of his pamphlet The Advantages of peace and commerce: with some remarks on the East-India trade (1729); attested but not much in currency until the early 1900s, when it supplanted the Chinese wall (not to be confused with the later jargon term Chinese Wall), perhaps in response to or as part of exaggerated accounts of the wall's size and construction.

Meanings

1. An ancient Chinese fortification, almost 4,000 miles long, originally designed to protect China from the Mongols.
   • Near that same fortieth parallel of latitude on which our Asiatic journey was begun and ended, we now struck, at its extreme western limit, the Great Wall of China. The Kiayu-kuan, or "Jade Gate," by which it is here intersected, was originally so called from the fact that it led into the Khotan country, whence the Chinese traders brought back the precious mineral. 1894, Thomas Gaskell Allen, Jr.; William Lewis Sachtleben, “Over the Gobi Desert and through the Western Gate of the Great Wall”, in Across Asia on a Bicycle: The Journey of Two American Students from Constantinople to Peking, New York: The Century Co., →OCLC, pages 190-191:
   • Abramovic and Ulay lived like nomads for many years, traveling to exotic locations. After 12 years, the eccentric artists broke up. The marriage performance they'd planned, during which they were to run 2,500 kilometers towards each other along the Great Wall of China and then marry, turned into a break-up event. 2016 November 30, Nadine Wojcik, “Blood and pain: Extreme performance artist Marina Abramovic turns 70”, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 01 Dec 2016, Arts:
   • Sadowski-Synnott scored 92.88 on her final run, landing back-to-back 1080s on a challenging course resembling the Great Wall of China. Asked how she felt about making history as the island nation's first Winter Games gold medallist, she said it made her a "proud Kiwi". 2022 February 6, Mari Saito, Winni Zhou, “Snowboarding-Proud Kiwi Sadowski-Synnott bags New Zealand's first Winter Games gold”, in Jacqueline Wong, Clare Fallon, editors, Reuters, archived from the original on 30 May 2022:
   • Of the Mongall Tartars. The Mongalls are a numerous people, and occupy a large extent of country, from this place to the Kallgan, which ſignifies the everlaſting Wall, or the great wall of China. From this wall they ſtretch themſelves northward as far as the river Amoor; and from the Amoor, weſtward, to the Baykail ſea ; where they border with the territories of the Kontayſha, or prince of the black Kalmucks. On the ſouth, they are bounded by a nation called Tonguts, among whom the Delay Lama has his residence. 1767, Annual register, or a view of the history and politics and literature for the year, page 38, column 2:
   • The Mongalls are a numerous people, and occupy a large extent of country, from this place to the Kallgan, which ſignines the everlaſting Wall, or the great wall of China. 1796, The Annual Register, or, a view of the History, Politicks, and Literature for the Year 1767, 5th edition, London: J. Dodsley, page 38:
   • Backhoes moved house by house, laying waste to a community called Xitai that was built in a plush green valley on the northern edge of Beijing, only a short walk from the Great Wall of China. 2020 August 7, Steven Lee Myers, Keith Bradsher, “Beijing Launches Another Demolition Drive, This Time in Its Bucolic Suburbs”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Aug 2020, Asia Pacific:
   • A northern section of the Great Wall of China collapsed after a period of heavy rain last month, with many blaming poor-quality renovations for the deterioration of the iconic landmark. 2018 August 2, Christina Zhao, “Great Wall of China Collapse: Poor Renovation Works And Heavy Rainfall Blamed”, in Newsweek, archived from the original on 02 Aug 2018:

Forms

Deriveds

Great Green Wall · Great Firewall of China · Great Wall · Great Wall of Sand

Relateds

Chinese Wall

Translations (59)

ru Вели́кая Кита́йская стена́ (Chinese fortification) · el Μέγα Σινικό Τείχος (Chinese fortification) · yue 萬里長城 /万里长城 (Chinese fortification) · nn den kinesiske muren (Chinese fortification) · de Chinesische Mauer (Chinese fortification) · ca Gran Muralla Xinesa (Chinese fortification) · pt Grande Muralha da China (Chinese fortification) · es Gran Muralla China (Chinese fortification) · sa अयुतक्रोशदीर्घप्राकार (Chinese fortification) · cmn 萬里長城 /万里长城 (Chinese fortification) · hi चीन की महान दीवार (Chinese fortification) · ug سەدىچىن سېپىلى (Chinese fortification) · cy Mur Mawr Tsieina (Chinese fortification) · vi Vạn Lí Trường Thành (Chinese fortification) · fi Kiinan muuri (Chinese fortification) · bo ལྕགས་རི་རིང་པོ། (Chinese fortification) · sv kinesiska muren (Chinese fortification) · nan-hbl 長城 /长城 (Chinese fortification) · pt Muralha da China (Chinese fortification) · dv ޗައިނާގެ ބޮޑު ފާރު (Chinese fortification) · kk Ұлы Қытай қорғаны (Chinese fortification) · nb Den kinesiske mur (Chinese fortification) · pl Wielki Mur Chiński (Chinese fortification) · vi Trường Thành (Chinese fortification) · gl Gran Muralla Chinesa (Chinese fortification) · mnc ᡤᠣᠯᠮᡳᠨ ᡥᡝᠴᡝᠨ (Chinese fortification) · mnc ᡧᠠᠩᡤᡳᠶᠠᠨ ᠵᠠᠰᡝ (Chinese fortification) · bg Великата китайска стена (Chinese fortification) · ro Marele Zid Chinezesc (Chinese fortification) · sw Ukuta wa China (Chinese fortification) · vi Vạn Lý Trường Thành (Chinese fortification) · fr Grande Muraille (Chinese fortification) · id Tembok Besar Tiongkok (Chinese fortification) · tg Девори Бузурги Чин (Chinese fortification) · sa चीनस्य महाभित्तिः (Chinese fortification) · mn Цагаан хэрэм (Chinese fortification) · km មហាកំផែងចិន (Chinese fortification) · nrf Graund-murâle dé Chène (Chinese fortification) · ka ჩინეთის დიდი კედელი (Chinese fortification) · su ᮒᮦᮙ᮪ᮘᮧᮊ᮪ ᮌᮨᮓᮦ ᮎᮤᮔ (Chinese fortification) · pt Grande Muralha (Chinese fortification) · th กำแพงเมืองจีน (Chinese fortification) · sah Кытай улуу эркинэ (Chinese fortification) · sw Ukuta Mkubwa wa China (Chinese fortification) · da Den Kinesiske Mur (Chinese fortification) · ar سُور اَلصِّين اَلْعَظِيم (Chinese fortification) · ta சீனப்பெருஞ்சுவர் (Chinese fortification) · hu kínai nagy fal (Chinese fortification) · hi चीन की महाप्राचीर (Chinese fortification) · ja 万里の長城 (Chinese fortification) · cmn 長城 /长城 (Chinese fortification) · it Grande muraglia cinese (Chinese fortification) · ko 만리장성 (Chinese fortification) · nrf Grande Muthâle dé Chinne (Chinese fortification) · my တရုတ်ပြည်မှ မဟာရံတံတိုင်းကြီး (Chinese fortification) · nl Chinese Muur (Chinese fortification) · jv ꦠꦺꦩ꧀ꦧꦺꦴꦏ꧀ꦫꦱꦼꦏ꧀ꦱꦕꦶꦤ (Chinese fortification) · uz Buyuk Xitoy devori (Chinese fortification) · fr Grande Muraille de Chine (Chinese fortification)

wikipedia: Daniel Defoe