Etymology

Three Kingdoms

Today it means: The tripartite division of China between the states of Wei (魏 (Wèi)), Shu (蜀 (Shǔ)), and Wu (吳／吴 (Wú)), during AD 220–280, following the Han dynasty and preceding the Jin dynasty. Full definition →

Chinese 三國 /三国
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Chinese · calque of三國 /三国
  2. English todayThree Kingdoms

Calque of Chinese 三國 /三国 (Sānguó).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.