Guangzhou
/ˈɡwɑːŋˌdʒoʊ/noun
A major city in southern China and the capital of Guangdong Province.
Did you know?The English name “Canton” ultimately developed through European forms of Chinese regional names associated with Guangzhou and Guangdong, rather than being the city’s original Chinese name.
Etymological Timeline
Old Chinese
Old Chinese
廣
“Broad, wide, or expansive”
Old Chinese
Old Chinese
州
“An administrative region or large territorial division”
3rd Century CE
Chinese
廣州
“Guang Prefecture; an administrative region established during the Three Kingdoms period”
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese
廣州
“The regional name, pronounced approximately Guang-tsyuw in historical sound systems”
16th–17th Centuries
Portuguese/European usage
Cantão / Canton
“European forms used for Guangzhou and the surrounding Guangdong region”
Modern English
English
Guangzhou
“The modern pinyin romanization of the Chinese name 广州”