Port Arthur

proper noun

A locality in Yorke Peninsula council area, South Australia.

Meanings

proper noun
  1. A locality in Yorke Peninsula council area, South Australia.
  2. A town and former convict settlement in Tasman council area, Tasmania, Australia.
  3. A community and former city in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
  4. Former name of Lüshun (“a port in China”).

    Port Arthur became part of the joint municipality of Port Arthur-Dairen, known in Chinese as Lüshun-Talien, or simply Lü-ta, with its seat at Dairen. The population of Port Arthur in the 1953 census was 126,000; that of Lü-ta (1958 est.) 1,590,000.

    1972, Theodore Shabad, “PORT ARTHUR”, in Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 18, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 259, column 2
    5 more examples

    In fact, the evidence of Chinese precautions, the arsenal at Kirin, the fort at Hun-ch’un, the lines near Port Arthur—Lu-shun-k’ou—the attention paid to drill, armament, and telegraphic communication, the very large bodies of troops trained by Europeans as well as the Militia, all show that China, if she does not fear, anticipates a struggle for her Northern lands.

    1888 March 17, “MANCHURIA.”, in The Spectator, number 3,116, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 389, column 2

    Subsequently, however, the Russians did proceed beyond Shanhaikwan and captured the towns of Chichou and Hsin Min. I also heard, after my arrival at Lü Shun (Port Arthur) that the Russians had dispatched forces in various directions eastwards, and had sent communications to the local officials bidding them not to be alarmed, as all they had to do was to hand over their munitions of war to the Russians, whereupon the latter would exterminate the Hu* rebels on their behalf.

    1901, Great Britain Foreign Office Correspondence on China, 1872-1904, volume 4, →OCLC, page 73

    The bitter heart of the treaty lay in the clauses requiring China to give up her sovereign control of Port Arthur and Dairen. Dairen was made an international free port, with special rights for Russia, and the Russians received the right to establish a naval base at Port Arthur on Chinese soil.

    1947, Theodore H. White, Annalee Jacoby, Thunder Out of China, London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, →OCLC, →OL, page 271

    Important among these [negotiations] was control of what the Russians had called the Chinese Eastern Railway from Port Arthur and Dalny [Dairen] up to Mukden and Changchun, a distance of some 450 miles. This line had been fought over from end to end, and had been severely damaged.

    1952 July, the late H. Carew, “By Special Train in the Far East”, in Railway Magazine, page 488

    The Peiping-Moscow friendship and alliance pact was signed in February 1950. Other treaties concluded in the "honeymoon period" had to do with the Manchurian railroad, harbors of Port Arthur and Dairen, petroleum from Sinkiang, and exploitation of rare metals.

    1973 May 27, “Mao still embraces Stalin cult”, in Free China Weekly, volume XIV, number 20, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

Named after British naval officer William Arthur (Royal Navy) (1830-1866) in 1860.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 阿瑟港
  • 阿瑟港 (Āsègǎng)port in China
Russian Порт-Артур
  • Порт-Артурport in China
Cite this entry
APA

Port Arthur. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Port%20Arthur

MLA

“Port Arthur.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Port%20Arthur. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Port Arthur,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Port%20Arthur.

Source: Port Arthur on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.