Peking

See also: Péking

English

Alternative forms

• Pachin, Paquin, Pekin, Pequin (obsolete)

Etymology

c. 1655 romanization of the Nanking court dialect Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 北京 (Běijīng), reinforced by Postal Romanization from before the modern palatalization of /k/. The early Portuguese and Jesuits such as Francis Xavier used the spelling Paquim; Abraham Ortelius used C. Paquin for his 1572 Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas; Italian Jesuit Martino Martini used Peking in his 1654 Latin De Bello Tartarico Historia and 1655 Novus Atlas Sinensis, which were quickly translated into English and later used by Joan Blaeu for his 1665 Atlas Maior. Peter Heylyn's Cosmographie changed its spelling from Paquin in the 1652 edition to Peking in the 1658 edition, but both Pekin and Peking were used interchangeably in English until the Chinese Imperial Post adopted Peking as its official transcription in the 1890s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /piːˈkɪŋ/, /peɪ.ˈkɪŋ/
• enPR: pēʹkǐngʹ, pāʹkǐngʹ

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋ
• Hyphenation: Pe‧king

Proper noun

Peking

1. Dated form of Beijing, a direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China.
   • 1655, The History of That Great and Renowned Monarchy of China‎^[1], page 273:

     The Emperour hearing of the ill ſucceſſe of this Affairs, began to think of leaving the Northern parts, where his Royal City of Peking is ſituated, and to paſſe to Nankuing which is far more Southward; but he was diſſwaded from this intended courſe as well by his loyal, as diſloyal ſubjec͡ts : by theſe, that they might give him up more ſpeedily into the enemies hands, before their treachery was diſcovered; and by the others, leſt his flight might trouble the Kingdome more, and diſcourage all his Subjec͡ts from giving their beſt aſſiſtance; for they thought the City impregnable, being fortified with ſo ſtrong a Garriſon; nor did they doubt that the Kings preſence would draw the ſources of the whole Kingdom to him.

   • 1972 February 20, President Richard Nixon, 15:48 from the start, in Nixon in China (The Film)‎^[2], Agana, Guam: Richard Nixon Presidential Library:

     This is not a time for a long speech but, I would not want this opportunity to pass without saying just a word with regard to the significance of this moment. Some of you may recall that it was two and a half years ago that right here in Guam, I announced a new direction for American foreign policy based on the principles of self-reliance, self-respect- equal dignity for all nations, large and small throughout the world. And tomorrow, I will take off from Guam for Shanghai and Peking, the first President of the United States ever to visit China. Guam, I know it is said, is where the American day begins. And I would hope that all of you today would join me in this prayer, that with this trip to China, a new day may begin for the whole world. Thank you very much.

   • 1989 June 4, Kate Adie, 0:02 from the start, in Archive: Chinese troops fire on protesters in Tiananmen Square - BBC News‎^[3], Peking: BBC News, published 2014:

     The noise of gunfire rose from all over the center of Peking. It was unremitting.

   • 2023 April 12, John Bolton, “A New American Grand Strategy to Counter Russia and China”, in The Wall Street Journal‎^[4], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 April 2023, Opinion:

     Third, after Ukraine wins its war with Russia, we must aim to split the Russia-China axis. Moscow’s defeat could unseat Mr. Putin’s regime. What comes next is a government of unknowable composition. New Russian leaders may or may not look to the West rather than Beijing, and might be so weak that the Russian Federation’s fragmentation, especially east of the Urals, isn’t inconceivable. Beijing is undoubtedly eyeing this vast territory, which potentially contains incalculable mineral wealth. Significant portions of this region were under Chinese sovereignty until the 1860 Treaty of Peking transferred “outer Manchuria,” including extensive Pacific coast lands, to Moscow. Russia’s uncontrolled dissolution could provide China direct access to the Arctic, including even the Bering Strait, facing Alaska.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Peking.
2. (metonymically) The government of the People's Republic of China; the central leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Peking.

Usage notes

Cultural terms using Peking such as Peking duck and Peking opera are the standard English language forms. However, as a reference to the city itself, Peking, though common in English into the 1980s, is less common than the pinyin-derived Beijing in standard English and can feel dated and/or historical. The adjectival form Pekingese is more common than the more recently generated terms Beijingese and Beijinger.

Coordinate terms

• Nanking

Derived terms

• Peking duck
• Pekinger
• Pekingese
• Pekingologist
• Peking opera
• Peking ravioli

 

Translations

Beijing — see Beijing

Further reading

• “Peking, pn.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “Peking”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “Peking” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.

Anagrams

• Keping, keping

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpɛkɪŋk]

Proper noun

Peking m inan (related adjective pekingský, demonym Pekiňan)

1. Beijing, Peking (a direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China)

Declension

Declension of Peking (sg-only velar masculine inanimate)

	singular
nominative	Peking
genitive	Pekingu
dative	Pekingu
accusative	Peking
vocative	Pekingu
locative	Pekingu
instrumental	Pekingem

Further reading

• Peking in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• Peking in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• Peking in Internetová jazyková příručka

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpeːkɪŋ/

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Peking n

1. Beijing, Peking (a direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China)

Finnish

Alternative forms

• Beijing (rare)

Etymology

From an old romanization of Chinese 北京 (Běijīng).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpekiŋː/, [ˈpe̞k̟iŋː]
• Rhymes: -ekiŋː
• Syllabification^(key): Pe‧king

Proper noun

Peking

1. Beijing, Peking (a direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China).

Declension

Inflection of Peking (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		Peking	—
genitive		Pekingin	—
partitive		Pekingiä	—
illative		Pekingiin	—
		singular	plural
nominative		Peking	—
accusative	nom.	Peking	—
	gen.	Pekingin
genitive		Pekingin	—
partitive		Pekingiä	—
inessive		Pekingissä	—
elative		Pekingistä	—
illative		Pekingiin	—
adessive		Pekingillä	—
ablative		Pekingiltä	—
allative		Pekingille	—
essive		Pekinginä	—
translative		Pekingiksi	—
abessive		Pekingittä	—
instructive		—	—
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of Peking (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Pekingini — accusative nom. Pekingini — gen. Pekingini genitive Pekingini — partitive Pekingiäni — inessive Pekingissäni — elative Pekingistäni — illative Pekingiini — adessive Pekingilläni — ablative Pekingiltäni — allative Pekingilleni — essive Pekinginäni — translative Pekingikseni — abessive Pekingittäni — instructive — — comitative — — second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Pekingisi — accusative nom. Pekingisi — gen. Pekingisi genitive Pekingisi — partitive Pekingiäsi — inessive Pekingissäsi — elative Pekingistäsi — illative Pekingiisi — adessive Pekingilläsi — ablative Pekingiltäsi — allative Pekingillesi — essive Pekinginäsi — translative Pekingiksesi — abessive Pekingittäsi — instructive — — comitative — — first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Pekingimme — accusative nom. Pekingimme — gen. Pekingimme genitive Pekingimme — partitive Pekingiämme — inessive Pekingissämme — elative Pekingistämme — illative Pekingiimme — adessive Pekingillämme — ablative Pekingiltämme — allative Pekingillemme — essive Pekinginämme — translative Pekingiksemme — abessive Pekingittämme — instructive — — comitative — — second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Pekinginne — accusative nom. Pekinginne — gen. Pekinginne genitive Pekinginne — partitive Pekingiänne — inessive Pekingissänne — elative Pekingistänne — illative Pekingiinne — adessive Pekingillänne — ablative Pekingiltänne — allative Pekingillenne — essive Pekinginänne — translative Pekingiksenne — abessive Pekingittänne — instructive — — comitative — — third-person possessor singular plural nominative Pekinginsä — accusative nom. Pekinginsä — gen. Pekinginsä genitive Pekinginsä — partitive Pekingiään Pekingiänsä — inessive Pekingissään Pekingissänsä — elative Pekingistään Pekingistänsä — illative Pekingiinsä — adessive Pekingillään Pekingillänsä — ablative Pekingiltään Pekingiltänsä — allative Pekingilleen Pekingillensä — essive Pekinginään Pekinginänsä — translative Pekingikseen Pekingiksensä — abessive Pekingittään Pekingittänsä — instructive — — comitative — —

Derived terms

• Pekingin ankka
• Pekingin ooppera
• pekinginihminen

 

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpeːkɪŋ]

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Peking n (proper noun, genitive Pekings or (optionally with an article) Peking)

1. Beijing, Peking (a direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China)

   Synonym: (uncommon) Beijing

   • 2023 December 15, Fabian Kretschmer, “Zwangsarbeitsvorwürfe gegen Volkswagen: Zweifel an VW-Bericht zu Uiguren”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎^[5], →ISSN:

     Tatsächlich jedoch dürfte vor allem die Angst vor der chinesischen Regierung überwiegen: Ein Rückzug von VW aus Xinjiang würde für Peking schließlich einen tiefen Gesichtsverlust darstellen.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

• In German, Peking remains the vastly predominant form of the name in all contexts (except perhaps sinologist literature and the like).

Derived terms

• Pekingente

Further reading

• “Peking” in Duden online
• Peking on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpɛkiŋɡ]
• Hyphenation: Pe‧king
• Rhymes: -iŋɡ

Proper noun

Peking

1. Beijing, Peking (a direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China)

   Synonym: Beijing

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	Peking	—
accusative	Pekinget	—
dative	Pekingnek	—
instrumental	Pekinggel	—
causal-final	Pekingért	—
translative	Pekinggé	—
terminative	Pekingig	—
essive-formal	Pekingként	—
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	Pekingben	—
superessive	Pekingen	—
adessive	Pekingnél	—
illative	Pekingbe	—
sublative	Pekingre	—
allative	Pekinghez	—
elative	Pekingből	—
delative	Pekingről	—
ablative	Pekingtől	—
non-attributive possessive - singular	Pekingé	—
non-attributive possessive - plural	Pekingéi	—

Possessive forms of Peking
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	Pekingem	—
2nd person sing.	Pekinged	—
3rd person sing.	Pekingje	—
1st person plural	Pekingünk	—
2nd person plural	Pekingetek	—
3rd person plural	Pekingjük	—

Derived terms

• pekingi

Interlingua

Proper noun

Peking

1. Peking (the former name of Beijing, a direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China)

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pěkinɡ/
• Hyphenation: Pe‧king

Proper noun

Pèking m (Cyrillic spelling Пѐкинг)

1. Beijing, Peking (a direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China)

Declension

Declension of Peking

	singular
nominative	Peking
genitive	Pekinga
dative	Pekingu
accusative	Peking
vocative	Pekinže
locative	Pekingu
instrumental	Pekingom

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpekink]

Proper noun

Peking m inan (genitive singular Pekingu)

1. Beijing, Peking (the capital of China)

References

• “Peking”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Swedish

Alternative forms

• Beijing (Hanyu Pinyin)

Proper noun

Peking n (genitive Pekings)

1. Beijing, Peking (a direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China)

Anagrams

• knepig

Tagalog

Etymology

From English Peking, from an old romanization of Nanjing court dialect Mandarin 北京 (Běijīng), reinforced by Postal Romanization.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpekiŋ/, [ˈpɛ.xɪŋ]
• Hyphenation: Pe‧king

Proper noun

Peking (Baybayin spelling ᜉᜒᜃᜒᜅ᜔)

1. Beijing, Peking (a direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China)

Further reading

• “Peking”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018