Yangzi
/ˈjæŋtsiː/noun
A commonly used English transliteration of the Chinese name Yangzi for the Yangtze River, especially its lower course.
Did you know?“Yangtze” is not the river’s original Chinese name: Western travelers generalized Yangzi, the name of a lower-river stretch, to the entire waterway.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient China
Chinese
揚子
“Yangzi; the name of a locality and river section near present-day Yangzhou”
6th Century
Chinese
揚子津
“Yangzi ferry or crossing, a strategically important point on the lower river”
7th Century
Chinese
揚子江
“Yangzi River; a name applied to the river in the lower Yangzi region”
16th Century
Portuguese
Iambe / Iang-tse
“Early European renderings of the Chinese river name”
19th Century
English
Yangtze
“The conventional English form, derived from Yangzi Jiang”
Modern English
English
Yangzi
“A scholarly or pinyin transliteration of the Chinese form 揚子”
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