Seoul

S1E1O1U1L1
UK/səʊl/US/soʊl/

proper noun

The capital city of South Korea, also the historical capital of Korea from 1394 until the country was divided in 1945.

CommonScrabble 5

Meanings

proper noun

alternative obsolete Sior

  1. The capital city of South Korea, also the historical capital of Korea from 1394 until the country was divided in 1945.

    With almost 10 million people living in 25 different districts and the Han River through the middle, Seoul offers more than even most locals who spend a considerable amount of time have time to see for themselves.

    2023 March 21, Dong-hwan Ko, “Possibly next SOHO, Seoul selects 5 neighborhoods for new signature 'K-alleys'”, in The Korea Times, archived from the original on 13 May 2023, National
    2 more examples

    The Joint Commission provided for in the Moscow agreement began its work at Seoul, the ancient capital of Korea, on March 20, 1946. This Commission, which was, of course, the key element in the plan agreed upon at Moscow, was deadlocked almost from the start.

    1956, Harry S. Truman, chapter 21, in Memoirs of Harry S. Truman: Years of Trial And Hope, volume II, Doubleday & Company, →OCLC, page 320

    Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, reciprocating Yoon’s visit to Tokyo in March. In doing so, the two leaders marked the revival of their “shuttle diplomacy” to hold negotiations in each other’s countries and work through a series of thorny issues that have complicated their ties.

    2023 May 7, Michelle Ye Hee Lee, “Japanese prime minister visits Seoul, resuming ‘shuttle diplomacy’”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 May 2023, Asia

    Synonyms: Hanseong, Hanyang, Keijō, Han-ch'eng

  2. metonymicallythe South Korean government

    To that end, Seoul and Taipei signed a reciprocal driver’s license agreement in February, with immediate effect, to make driving easier for visitors on each side, he said.

    2022 June 21, “Seoul representative taking more ‘systematic’ approach”, in Taipei Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Jun 2022, Taiwan News, page 2
    1 more example

    After years of friction, Seoul and Tokyo are trying to collaborate more closely with each other and Washington to counter the looming geopolitical threats of China’s economic and military rise and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. The Biden administration has welcomed their efforts.

    2023 May 7, Michelle Ye Hee Lee, “Japanese prime minister visits Seoul, resuming ‘shuttle diplomacy’”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 May 2023, Asia

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounThe capital city of South Korea, also the historical capital of Korea from 1394 until the country was divided in 1945.

Origin

  1. Korean서울
  2. FrenchSéoul
  3. EnglishSeoul

From French Séoul, from Korean 서울 (Seoul, literally “capital city”), originally from Claude-Charles Dallet's French-based romanization of Korean, reinforced by the 1959 South Korean Ministry of Education romanization of Korean, which transcribed the Korean vowel ㅓ (/⁠ʌ⁠/) with the digraph "eo" and which was official until 1984. Note that English Seoul predates the Revised Romanization romanization of Seoul. The two romanization systems simply produce identical forms.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans Seoel
  • Seoelcapital of South Korea
Arabic سِيئُول, سِيُول
  • سِيئُول (sīʔūl)capital of South Korea
  • سِيُول (siyūl)capital of South Korea
  • سُول (sōl)capital of South Korea
Basque Seul
  • Seulcapital of South Korea
Bengali সিওল, সউল
  • সিওল (śiōl)capital of South Korea
  • সউল (śoul)capital of South Korea
Bulgarian Сеу́л
  • Сеу́л (Seúl)capital of South Korea
Catalan Seül
  • Seülcapital of South Korea
Chinese Cantonese 首爾 /首尔, 漢城 /汉城
  • 首爾 /首尔 (sau² ji⁵)capital of South Korea
  • 漢城 /汉城capital of South Korea
Chinese Mandarin 首爾 /首尔, 漢城 /汉城
  • 首爾 /首尔 (Shǒu'ěr)capital of South Korea
  • 漢城 /汉城 (Hànchéng)capital of South Korea
Czech Soul
  • Soulcapital of South Korea
Danish Seoul
  • Seoulcapital of South Korea
Dutch Seoel, Seoul
  • Seoelcapital of South Korea
  • Seoulcapital of South Korea
Esperanto Seulo
  • Seulocapital of South Korea
Estonian Soul
  • Soulcapital of South Korea
Finnish Soul
  • Soulcapital of South Korea
French Séoul
  • Séoulcapital of South Korea
German Seoul, Söul
  • Seoulcapital of South Korea
  • Söulcapital of South Korea
  • Soulcapital of South Korea
Greek Σεούλ
  • Σεούλ (Seoúl)capital of South Korea
Hebrew סיאול
  • סיאולcapital of South Korea
Hindi सिऊल, सियूल
  • सिऊल (siūl)capital of South Korea
  • सियूल (siyūl)capital of South Korea
  • सियोल (siyol)capital of South Korea
Hungarian Szöul
  • Szöulcapital of South Korea
Icelandic Seúl
  • Seúlcapital of South Korea
Indonesian Seoul
  • Seoulcapital of South Korea
Irish Súl
  • Súlcapital of South Korea
Italian Seul, Seoul
  • Seulcapital of South Korea
  • Seoulcapital of South Korea
Japanese ソウル
  • ソウル (Souru)capital of South Korea
Korean 서울
  • 서울capital of South Korea
Latin Seulum
  • Seulumcapital of South Korea
Latvian Seula
  • Seulacapital of South Korea
Lithuanian Seulas
  • Seulascapital of South Korea
Malay Seoul
  • Seoulcapital of South Korea
Māori Heora
  • Heoracapital of South Korea
Norwegian Bokmål Seoul
  • Seoulcapital of South Korea
Persian سئول
  • سئول (se'ul)capital of South Korea
Polish Seul
  • Seulcapital of South Korea
Portuguese Seul
  • Seulcapital of South Korea
Punjabi ਸਿਓਲ
  • ਸਿਓਲ (siola)capital of South Korea
Romanian Seul
  • Seulcapital of South Korea
Russian Сеу́л
  • Сеу́л (Seúl)capital of South Korea
Slovak Soul
  • Soulcapital of South Korea
Spanish Seúl
  • Seúlcapital of South Korea
Swedish Söul, Seoul
  • Söulcapital of South Korea
  • Seoulcapital of South Korea
Tagalog Seúl, Seoul
  • Seúlcapital of South Korea
  • Seoulcapital of South Korea
  • Seyúlcapital of South Korea
  • Seyolcapital of South Korea
Tamil சியோல்
  • சியோல் (ciyōl)capital of South Korea
Thai โซล, เซอูล
  • โซล (sool)capital of South Korea
  • เซอูลcapital of South Korea
Turkish Seul
  • Seulcapital of South Korea
Ukrainian Сеу́л
  • Сеу́л (Seúl)capital of South Korea
Urdu سیئول, سیول
  • سیئول (siyūl)capital of South Korea
  • سیول (seūl)capital of South Korea
  • سؤل (sawūl)capital of South Korea
Vietnamese Xơ-un, Xê-un
  • Xơ-uncapital of South Korea
  • Xê-uncapital of South Korea
  • Hán Thànhcapital of South Korea
Yiddish סעאָל
  • סעאָל (seol)capital of South Korea

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with Seoul

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

Seoul. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Seoul

MLA

“Seoul.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Seoul. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Seoul,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Seoul.

Source: Seoul on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.