Dongguan
/ˌdʊŋˈɡwɑːn/noun
A city and prefecture-level municipality in Guangdong Province, China.
Did you know?The second character, 莞, is associated with a type of reed or grass, although the precise original geographic reference in the name remains debated by scholars.
Etymological Timeline
Early Chinese
Old Chinese
東
“East; the direction of the rising sun”
Early Chinese
Old Chinese
莞
“A plant name, commonly associated with a reed or grass; also used in regional place-names”
4th Century
Middle Chinese
東莞
“Dongguan; the name of a district established in the Eastern Jin period”
8th Century
Middle Chinese
東莞
“A county name recorded during the Tang period”
20th Century
Mandarin
Dōngguǎn
“The modern Mandarin pronunciation of 東莞”
Modern English
English
Dongguan
“The established English romanization of the Chinese city name”