Dictionary

xian en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• shyěn

Etymology

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 縣 /县.

Meanings

1. (China, Taiwan) An administrative subdivision of imperial, republican, and communist China roughly equivalent to counties, now distinguished from the more urban "districts" (qu). (Alternative form of hsien for Taiwan (ROC).)
   • At the time of the elections (1980) Nanjing was subdivided into three suburban counties (xian) and nine urban districts (qu). 1990, Barrett L. McCormick, “Elections to Local People's Congresses”, in Political Reform in Post-Mao China: Democracy and Bureaucracy in a Leninist State, University of California Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 138:
   • Tight and dense motifs occur on bronzes excavated in 1923 from a tomb at Lijialou at Xinzheng Xian in southern Henan attributed to the small state of Zheng. 1987, Jessica Rawson, “The Eastern Zhou Period”, in Chinese Bronzes: Art and Ritual, British Museum Publications, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 47:
   • The Henan Mongol autonomous county (xian) is inhabited by Tsoros Mongols, and there are Ööld Mongols in the Huzhu autonomous county. 2017, Alan J. K. Sanders, Historical Dictionary of Mongolia, 4th edition, volume I, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 700, page 274:

Forms

Deriveds

Gui Xian

Synonyms

county

Translations (6)

sjo ᠰᡞᠶᠠᠨ (Translations) · ja 県 (Translations) · khb ᦶᦉᧃᧈ (Translations) · za yen (Translations) · mnc ᡥᡳᠶᠠᠨ (Translations) · mn сияан (Translations)

xian en · ADJ · etymology 2

Etymology

An alternative capitalization of Xian.

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative, derogatory, not-comparable, offensive, sometimes) Alternative form of Xian: Christian.
   alt of Xian
   • But what an epoch in the xian world—what a time for a xian Orator to make a deep & eternal impression on socity^([sic]). 1993, Mary Moody Emerson, edited by Nancy Craig Simmons, The Selected Letters of Mary Moody Emerson, Athens: University of Georgia Press, page 242:

xian en · NOUN · etymology 2

Etymology

An alternative capitalization of Xian.

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative, derogatory, offensive, sometimes) Alternative form of Xian: Christian.
   alt of Xian

Forms

xian en · ADJ · etymology 3

Meanings

1. (Singapore, Singlish, alt-of, alternative) Alternative spelling of sian (“bored, boring”).
   alt of sian

Forms