Meanings
Tonkin1
Tonkin2
alternative Tonquin · alternative Tong-King
- abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of the Gulf of Tonkin: a gulf in northern Vietnam.
- abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of Gulf of Tonkin incident, a 1964 event used to increase US involvement in the Vietnam War.
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounSynonym of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.
proper nounA former domain in northern Vietnam.
proper nounA former protectorate in northern Vietnam, a colony of France.
Origin
Tonkin · proper noun
From a medieval diminutive form of the given name Thomas.
Full word history & related roots →Tonkin · proper noun
- Middle Chinese東京
- VietnameseĐông Kinh“Hanoi; its former kingdom”
- FrenchTonkin
- EnglishTonkin
From French Tonkin, from Vietnamese Đông Kinh (“Hanoi; its former kingdom”), from đông (“east, eastern”) + kinh (“capital”), from Middle Chinese 東京 (tuwng kjaeng), q.v. Cognate, through Middle Chinese, of Tokyo.
More words from French, Vietnamese, Middle Chinese
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
Tonkin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tonkin
“Tonkin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tonkin. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Tonkin,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tonkin.
Source: Tonkin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.