"Tonkin" meaning in English

See Tonkin in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proper name

Forms: Tonkins [plural]
Etymology: From a medieval diminutive form of the given name Thomas. Head templates: {{en-proper noun|s}} Tonkin (plural Tonkins)
  1. A surname transferred from the given name.
    Sense id: en-Tonkin-en-name-7rrtY8Fk Categories (other): English surnames
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Proper name

Forms: Tonquin [alternative], Tong-King [alternative]
Etymology: 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. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|fr|Tonkin}} French Tonkin, {{der|en|vi|Đông Kinh||Hanoi; its former kingdom}} Vietnamese Đông Kinh (“Hanoi; its former kingdom”), {{der|en|ltc|東京}} Middle Chinese 東京 (tuwng kjaeng) Head templates: {{en-proper noun}} Tonkin
  1. (archaic) Synonym of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Tags: archaic Categories (place): Cities in Vietnam, Places in Vietnam Synonyms: Hanoi [synonym, synonym-of]
    Sense id: en-Tonkin-en-name-NRflUFXP Categories (other): National capitals, Vietnam, Vietnam War Disambiguation of Vietnam: 2 23 27 25 21 3 Disambiguation of Vietnam War: 2 23 21 20 22 12
  2. (historical) A former kingdom in northern Vietnam. Tags: historical Categories (place): Places in Vietnam
    Sense id: en-Tonkin-en-name-7IlJa0iA Categories (other): Former polities, Vietnam, Vietnam War Disambiguation of Vietnam: 2 23 27 25 21 3 Disambiguation of Vietnam War: 2 23 21 20 22 12
  3. (historical) A former protectorate in northern Vietnam, a colony of France. Tags: historical Categories (place): Places in France, Places in Vietnam
    Sense id: en-Tonkin-en-name-jIgclVYP Categories (other): Dependent territories of France, Former dependent territories, France, Vietnam, Vietnam War Disambiguation of France: 0 0 0 100 0 0 Disambiguation of Vietnam: 2 23 27 25 21 3 Disambiguation of Vietnam War: 2 23 21 20 22 12
  4. Short for Gulf of Tonkin, a gulf in northern Vietnam. Tags: abbreviation, alt-of Alternative form of: Gulf of Tonkin (extra: a gulf in northern Vietnam) Categories (place): Places in Vietnam Derived forms: Gulf of Tonkin, Tonkinese, Tonkin pit viper
    Sense id: en-Tonkin-en-name-FwlS9cF5 Categories (other): Gulfs, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 3 entries, Pages with entries, Seas, Vietnam, Vietnam War Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 9 3 2 2 49 34 Disambiguation of Pages with 3 entries: 12 2 2 2 33 23 3 23 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 9 1 1 1 37 24 2 25 Disambiguation of Seas: 7 3 2 2 52 34 Disambiguation of Vietnam: 2 23 27 25 21 3 Disambiguation of Vietnam War: 2 23 21 20 22 12
  5. Short for Gulf of Tonkin incident, a 1964 event used to increase US involvement in the Vietnamese Civil War. Tags: abbreviation, alt-of Alternative form of: Gulf of Tonkin incident (extra: a 1964 event used to increase US involvement in the Vietnamese Civil War)
    Sense id: en-Tonkin-en-name-CKR8MRRg Categories (other): English links with redundant alt parameters, English links with redundant wikilinks, Vietnam War Disambiguation of Vietnam War: 2 23 21 20 22 12
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "From a medieval diminutive form of the given name Thomas.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Tonkins",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "s"
      },
      "expansion": "Tonkin (plural Tonkins)",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English surnames",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A surname transferred from the given name."
      ],
      "id": "en-Tonkin-en-name-7rrtY8Fk",
      "links": [
        [
          "surname",
          "surname"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Tonkin"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "Tonkin"
      },
      "expansion": "French Tonkin",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "vi",
        "3": "Đông Kinh",
        "4": "",
        "5": "Hanoi; its former kingdom"
      },
      "expansion": "Vietnamese Đông Kinh (“Hanoi; its former kingdom”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ltc",
        "3": "東京"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Chinese 東京 (tuwng kjaeng)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "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.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Tonquin",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Tong-King",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "Tonkin",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "place",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Cities in Vietnam",
          "orig": "en:Cities in Vietnam",
          "parents": [
            "Cities",
            "Places"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "National capitals",
          "orig": "en:National capitals",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "place",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Places in Vietnam",
          "orig": "en:Places in Vietnam",
          "parents": [
            "Places"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 23 27 25 21 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Vietnam",
          "orig": "en:Vietnam",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 23 21 20 22 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Vietnam War",
          "orig": "en:Vietnam War",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Synonym of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam."
      ],
      "id": "en-Tonkin-en-name-NRflUFXP",
      "links": [
        [
          "Hanoi",
          "Hanoi#English"
        ],
        [
          "capital",
          "capital"
        ],
        [
          "Vietnam",
          "Vietnam#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic) Synonym of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "extra": "the capital of Vietnam",
          "tags": [
            "synonym",
            "synonym-of"
          ],
          "word": "Hanoi"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Former polities",
          "orig": "en:Former polities",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "place",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Places in Vietnam",
          "orig": "en:Places in Vietnam",
          "parents": [
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 23 27 25 21 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Vietnam",
          "orig": "en:Vietnam",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 23 21 20 22 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Vietnam War",
          "orig": "en:Vietnam War",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A former kingdom in northern Vietnam."
      ],
      "id": "en-Tonkin-en-name-7IlJa0iA",
      "links": [
        [
          "kingdom",
          "kingdom"
        ],
        [
          "Vietnam",
          "Vietnam#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical) A former kingdom in northern Vietnam."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Dependent territories of France",
          "orig": "en:Dependent territories of France",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Former dependent territories",
          "orig": "en:Former dependent territories",
          "parents": [],
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        },
        {
          "kind": "place",
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          "name": "Places in France",
          "orig": "en:Places in France",
          "parents": [
            "Places"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "place",
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          "orig": "en:Places in Vietnam",
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          "source": "w"
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          "_dis": "0 0 0 100 0 0",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "2 23 27 25 21 3",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "2 23 21 20 22 12",
          "kind": "other",
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          "name": "Vietnam War",
          "orig": "en:Vietnam War",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A former protectorate in northern Vietnam, a colony of France."
      ],
      "id": "en-Tonkin-en-name-jIgclVYP",
      "links": [
        [
          "protectorate",
          "protectorate"
        ],
        [
          "Vietnam",
          "Vietnam#English"
        ],
        [
          "colony",
          "colony"
        ],
        [
          "France",
          "France#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical) A former protectorate in northern Vietnam, a colony of France."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "a gulf in northern Vietnam",
          "word": "Gulf of Tonkin"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Gulfs",
          "orig": "en:Gulfs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "place",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Places in Vietnam",
          "orig": "en:Places in Vietnam",
          "parents": [
            "Places"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 3 2 2 49 34",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 2 2 2 33 23 3 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 3 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 1 1 1 37 24 2 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 3 2 2 52 34",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Seas",
          "orig": "en:Seas",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 23 27 25 21 3",
          "kind": "other",
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          "name": "Vietnam",
          "orig": "en:Vietnam",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "2 23 21 20 22 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Vietnam War",
          "orig": "en:Vietnam War",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 0 60 40",
          "word": "Gulf of Tonkin"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 0 60 40",
          "word": "Tonkinese"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 0 60 40",
          "word": "Tonkin pit viper"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Short for Gulf of Tonkin, a gulf in northern Vietnam."
      ],
      "id": "en-Tonkin-en-name-FwlS9cF5",
      "links": [
        [
          "Gulf of Tonkin",
          "Gulf of Tonkin#English"
        ],
        [
          "gulf",
          "gulf"
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        [
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          "Vietnam#English"
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      ],
      "tags": [
        "abbreviation",
        "alt-of"
      ]
    },
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "a 1964 event used to increase US involvement in the Vietnamese Civil War",
          "word": "Gulf of Tonkin incident"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English links with redundant alt parameters",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English links with redundant wikilinks",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 23 21 20 22 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Vietnam War",
          "orig": "en:Vietnam War",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Short for Gulf of Tonkin incident, a 1964 event used to increase US involvement in the Vietnamese Civil War."
      ],
      "id": "en-Tonkin-en-name-CKR8MRRg",
      "links": [
        [
          "Gulf of Tonkin incident",
          "w:Gulf of Tonkin incident"
        ],
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          "used"
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        [
          "increase",
          "increase"
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        [
          "US",
          "US"
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        [
          "involvement",
          "involvement"
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      ],
      "tags": [
        "abbreviation",
        "alt-of"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "en:Tonkin"
  ],
  "word": "Tonkin"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English proper nouns",
    "English terms borrowed from French",
    "English terms derived from French",
    "English terms derived from Middle Chinese",
    "English terms derived from Vietnamese",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Pages with 3 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "en:France",
    "en:Seas",
    "en:Vietnam",
    "en:Vietnam War"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "From a medieval diminutive form of the given name Thomas.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Tonkins",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      "name": "en-proper noun"
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  "senses": [
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        "English surnames",
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        "A surname transferred from the given name."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
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    }
  ],
  "word": "Tonkin"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English proper nouns",
    "English terms borrowed from French",
    "English terms derived from French",
    "English terms derived from Middle Chinese",
    "English terms derived from Vietnamese",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Pages with 3 entries",
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    "en:France",
    "en:Seas",
    "en:Vietnam",
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  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "Gulf of Tonkin"
    },
    {
      "word": "Tonkinese"
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    {
      "word": "Tonkin pit viper"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "Tonkin"
      },
      "expansion": "French Tonkin",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "vi",
        "3": "Đông Kinh",
        "4": "",
        "5": "Hanoi; its former kingdom"
      },
      "expansion": "Vietnamese Đông Kinh (“Hanoi; its former kingdom”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ltc",
        "3": "東京"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Chinese 東京 (tuwng kjaeng)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "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.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Tonquin",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Tong-King",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
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  "head_templates": [
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      "name": "en-proper noun"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with archaic senses",
        "en:Cities in Vietnam",
        "en:National capitals",
        "en:Places in Vietnam"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Synonym of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "Hanoi#English"
        ],
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          "capital"
        ],
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        ]
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic) Synonym of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam."
      ],
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          "tags": [
            "synonym",
            "synonym-of"
          ],
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        "archaic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with historical senses",
        "en:Former polities",
        "en:Places in Vietnam"
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      "glosses": [
        "A former kingdom in northern Vietnam."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
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        ],
        [
          "Vietnam",
          "Vietnam#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical) A former kingdom in northern Vietnam."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with historical senses",
        "en:Dependent territories of France",
        "en:Former dependent territories",
        "en:Places in France",
        "en:Places in Vietnam"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A former protectorate in northern Vietnam, a colony of France."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "protectorate",
          "protectorate"
        ],
        [
          "Vietnam",
          "Vietnam#English"
        ],
        [
          "colony",
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        ],
        [
          "France",
          "France#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical) A former protectorate in northern Vietnam, a colony of France."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "a gulf in northern Vietnam",
          "word": "Gulf of Tonkin"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English short forms",
        "en:Gulfs",
        "en:Places in Vietnam"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Short for Gulf of Tonkin, a gulf in northern Vietnam."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Gulf of Tonkin",
          "Gulf of Tonkin#English"
        ],
        [
          "gulf",
          "gulf"
        ],
        [
          "Vietnam",
          "Vietnam#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "abbreviation",
        "alt-of"
      ]
    },
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "a 1964 event used to increase US involvement in the Vietnamese Civil War",
          "word": "Gulf of Tonkin incident"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English links with redundant alt parameters",
        "English links with redundant wikilinks",
        "English short forms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Short for Gulf of Tonkin incident, a 1964 event used to increase US involvement in the Vietnamese Civil War."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Gulf of Tonkin incident",
          "w:Gulf of Tonkin incident"
        ],
        [
          "event",
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        ],
        [
          "used",
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        [
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        [
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        ],
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        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "abbreviation",
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      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "en:Tonkin"
  ],
  "word": "Tonkin"
}

Download raw JSONL data for Tonkin meaning in English (4.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-07 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-06-01 using wiktextract (92124b4 and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.