พิษณุโลก

Thai

Alternative forms

• วิษณุโลก, พิศณุโลก, พิศณุโลกย์, พิศณูโลก, พีศณูโลก — obsolete

Etymology

From พิษณุ (pít-sà-nú, “Viṣṇu, Hindu god”) +‎ โลก (lôok, “world”); literally "Viṣṇu's world". Compare Old Khmer viṣṇuloka; Modern Khmer ពិស្ណុលោក (pɨhnolook); Sanskrit विष्णुलोक (viṣṇuloka).

The last sense was first used in 2006 BE (1463/64 CE) when King Borommatrailokkanat of Ayutthaya moved his court from Ayutthaya to this town and renamed the town to suit his royal dignity, because Ayutthayan monarchs, influenced by the cult of divine monarchy, believed themselves to be incarnations of the Hindu god Viṣṇu. Prior to the renaming, the town was known as ชัยนาท (chai-nâat, literally “resounding victory”).

Pronunciation

Orthographic		พิษณุโลก b i ʂ ɳ u o l k
Phonemic		พิด-สะ-นุ-โลก b i ɗ – s a – n u – o l k
Romanization	Paiboon	pít-sà-nú-lôok
	Royal Institute	phit-sa-nu-lok
(standard) IPA(key)		/pʰit̚˦˥.sa˨˩.nu˦˥.loːk̚˥˩/(R)
Audio

Proper noun

พิษณุโลก • (pít-sà-nú-lôok)

1. (historical) (พระ~) Angkor Wat, the largest temple complex in Cambodia

   Synonym: นครวัด (ná-kɔɔn-wát)

2. (historical) (พระ~) the posthumous name of Suryavarman II, a monarch of the Khmer Empire
3. (จังหวัด~, archaically พระ~) Phitsanulok (a province of Thailand)

   Synonyms: (initialism) พล (pɔɔ-lɔɔ), (former) สองแคว, (former) สรลวงสองแคว, (former) ชัยนาท (chai-nâat), (colloquial) พิดโลก, (colloquial) พิโลก

4. Phitsanulok (the capital city of Phitsanulok Province, Thailand)