Takow

T1A1K5O1W4

proper noun

Kaohsiung

Scrabble 12

Meanings

proper noun

alternative Takau · alternative Takou · alternative Takao · alternative Dagou

  1. Kaohsiung

    Anping has of late risen greatly in importance, the foreign firms making it their headquarters instead of Takow, which port in former years was considered of more significance.

    1900, European Settlements in the Far East, London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, page 39
    2 more examples

    The three shipping companies maintaining regular services with this port are the Douglas Steamship Co. (British) touching at Foochow, Amoy, Swatow, and Kongkong; the China Merchants' Steam Navigation Co. (Chinese), whose steamers run between Foochow and Shanghai; and the Osaka Shosen Kaisha (Japanese), whose steamers touch at Foochow, Shanghai, Tientsin, Dairen, Amoy, Takow, and Keelung (the last two ports being in Formosa).

    1919, Supplement to Commerce reports : daily consular and trade reports issued by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce, United States Department of Commerce, page 32

    A descendant of Robert Swinhoe, the first British consul in what was then known as Formosa, on Thursday visited the British Consulate at Takow (打狗英國領事館) in Kaohsiung, hoping to deepen his understanding of his ancestor. Robert Swinhoe was stationed in Taiwan in July 1861 as the first British vice-consul, and he set up the first British Consular Office in Taiwan in Taiwanfu (modern-day Tainan), the Kaohsiung Bureau of Cultural Affairs said. Three years later, Britain relocated the vice consulate from Taiwanfu to Takao (modern-day Kaohsiung), after the Port of Kaohsiung was opened.

    2019, Huang Chia-lin, Jake Chung, “Descendant of Britain’s first consul visits Taiwan”, in Taipei Times

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Sirayatakau“bamboo forest”
  2. Taiwanese Hokkien打狗
  3. Mandarin打狗
  4. EnglishTakow

From either Mandarin 打狗 (Dǎgǒu) or directly from Hokkien, specifically Taiwanese Hokkien 打狗 (Tá-káu), from Siraya takau (“bamboo forest”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Takow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Takow

MLA

“Takow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Takow. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Takow,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Takow.

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