Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

forbidden city

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.95 in modern English

Syllables
for-bid-den c-i-ty
IPA
25
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
5
Syllables
11
Unique Chars

Meaning

Example Sentences

Etymology

Calque of Chinese 紫禁城 (Zǐjìnchéng, literally “Purple Forbidden City”, or “Imperial Forbidden City”).

Inflected Forms

the Forbidden City (canonical)

Questions

What does forbidden city mean?
A palace of the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty located in Dongcheng district, Beijing, China.
Where does forbidden city come from?
Calque of Chinese 紫禁城 (Zǐjìnchéng, literally “Purple Forbidden City”, or “Imperial Forbidden City”).

How to pronounce forbidden city

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “forbidden city”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “forbidden city”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “forbidden city” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.