Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

khitan

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.60 in modern English

Syllables
khi-tan
IPA
13
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A member of the Mongolic people who ruled Manchuria, then northern China as the Liao, then Central Asia as the Qara Khitais, from the 9th to 13th century C.E.

adj

Of or pertaining to the Khitan people, language or scripts.

name

The Khitan Empire; the state or land of the Khitan people.

name

The extinct Para-Mongolic language spoken by the Khitan people.

Etymology

Reconstruction of Khitan 𘱿𘲫 (*qid ún, small script) or 𘱿𘱤 (*qid i, small script) under influence from Middle Chinese 契丹 (MC khejH|khj+t|khet tan). Doublet of Cathay. Compare Russian Кита́й (Kitáj, “China”) and the various forms of Cathay (“legendary northern medieval China”) in European languages.

Word Breakdown

Inflected Forms

Khitans (plural) Kitai (alternative) Khitai (alternative) Kitan (alternative) K'itan (alternative)

Derived Forms

Khitanian Khitanic

Phrases

Black Khitan Khitan large script Khitan small script

Synonyms

Khitanian Khitanic Liao

Questions

What does khitan mean?
A member of the Mongolic people who ruled Manchuria, then northern China as the Liao, then Central Asia as the Qara Khitais, from the 9th to 13th century C.E.
Where does khitan come from?
Reconstruction of Khitan 𘱿𘲫 (*qid ún, small script) or 𘱿𘱤 (*qid i, small script) under influence from Middle Chinese 契丹 (MC khejH|khj+t|khet tan). Doublet of Cathay. Compare Russian Кита́й (Kitáj, “China”) and the various forms of Cathay (“legendary northern medieval China”) in European languages.

How to pronounce khitan

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “khitan”.
  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 “khitan”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “khitan” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.