Tonkin
/ˈtɒŋ.kɪn/noun
A historical name for northern Vietnam, especially under French colonial rule.
Did you know?Tonkin derives from Vietnamese Đông Kinh, the name of Hanoi when it was the imperial “Eastern Capital,” and is historically related to names such as Tokyo and Beijing through the Chinese word for capital.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Chinese
Old Chinese
東京
“Eastern capital; a compound of 東, “east,” and 京, “capital””
Medieval Vietnam
Vietnamese
Đông Kinh
“Eastern Capital, a name associated with the imperial city of Thăng Long, later Hanoi”
16th Century
Portuguese
Tonquim
“European rendering of Đông Kinh, used for the northern Vietnamese region”
17th Century
English
Tonkin
“The northern part of Vietnam, as known through European geographical writing”
19th–20th Century
French/English
Tonkin
“Northern Vietnam, especially the French colonial territory of Tonkin”
Modern English
English
Tonkin
“A historical or geographical term for northern Vietnam”