Miao

M3I1A1O1

noun

The Miao peoples (including Hmong, Hmu, A-Hmao, Qo Xiong, etc.), an ethnic group of China and Vietnam speaking the Hmong-Mien language family.

Similar
HmongHmong languageMiao language
UncommonScrabble 6

Meanings

nounMiao pl (plural only)

alternative Meo

  1. pluralplural onlyThe Miao peoples (including Hmong, Hmu, A-Hmao, Qo Xiong, etc.), an ethnic group of China and Vietnam speaking the Hmong-Mien language family.
    1 more example

    With the help of KMT Miao representatives like Shi Honggui, Changsha drew up its plans for a permanent advance into the West: the Reconstruction Program of July 3, 1936, which called on the Miao people to learn Chinese, intermarry with the Han, and give up their traditional sacrifices, “undesirable marriage customs,” and “improper amusements.” The Miao were to be educated, but also pacified and culturally assimilated.

    1987, Jeffrey C. Kinkley, “Fighting for Autonomy”, in The Odyssey of Shen Congwen, Stanford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 239
proper noun

alternative Meo

  1. The languages of the Miao.
  2. A surname from Chinese.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna people living traditionally in mountain villages in southern China and adjacent areas of Vietnam and Laos and Thailand; many have emigrated to the United States

Similar

nouna language of uncertain affiliation spoken by the Hmong

Similar
HmongHmong languageMiao language

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Mandarin苗
  2. EnglishMiao

From Mandarin 苗 (Miáo).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 苗語 /苗语
  • 苗語 /苗语 (Miáoyǔ)language of the Miao
Irish Hmongais Bhán
  • Hmongais Bhánlanguage of the Miao

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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