Meanings
- obsoleteSynonym of Xi'an: the provincial capital of Shaanxi in central China.
Sianfu is a noble and great city in the province of Mangi, and hath twelve rich and great cities under her juriſdiction.
1811, John Pinkerton, A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in All Parts of the World, volume 7, page 1502 more examples
From the town of Hanchung a track leads in a north-easterly direction over the Tsingling Mountains to Sianfu, but the regular route bears back slightly and goes N.N.W. along the Kansu border, until it eventually strikes the Wei Valley and enters Northern China.
1901, Clive Bigham, A Year in China, 1899-1900, London: Macmillan and Co, Ltd., page 139As we rode slowly over the Lunghai Line toward Sianfu, across the brown sun-baked plains of Northern Honan, soon to be flooded when the Chinese breached the Yellow River dikes to stop the advancing Yellow Horde, we passed many troop trains en-route to the front.
1941, Edgar Snow, The Battle for Asia, New York: Random House, page 26Synonyms: Xi'an
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounSynonym of Xi'an: the provincial capital of Shaanxi in central China.
Origin
- Mandarin西安府
- EnglishSianfu
From the Postal Romanization of Mandarin 西安府 (Xī'ān fǔ), from Xi'an's former status as the center of a military commandery, 府 (fǔ).
More words from Mandarin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
Sianfu. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Sianfu
“Sianfu.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Sianfu. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Sianfu,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Sianfu.
Source: Sianfu on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.