Tonkinese

1 of 2

adjective

Ton·​kin·​ese ¦täŋkə¦nēz 

-ēs

variants or Tongkingese

-kiŋ¦ēz 

-ēs

: of or relating to Tonkin

Tonkinese

2 of 2

noun

"

variants or Tongkingese

"

plural Tonkinese or Tongkingese

1

: a native of Tonkin

2

: a dialect of Vietnamese spoken in Tonkin

3

Tonkinese : any of a breed of short-haired cats developed in the U.S. by crossing the Siamese with the Burmese that have a brown, bluish gray, or beige body coat with darker points and blue-green eyes

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Tonkin, Tongking, northern part of Vietnam + English -ese

Geographical Definition

Tonkin

geographical name

Ton·​kin ˈtäŋ-kən 

ˈtän-ˈkin, 

ˈtäŋ-

variants or Tongking

ˈtäŋ-ˈkiŋ 

region of northern Indochina bordering on China; chief city Hanoi

Note: Since 1946 Tonkin has been the northern part of Vietnam.

Tonkinese

ˌtäŋ-kə-ˈnēz 

ˌtän-, 

-ˈnēs

adjective or noun

or Tongkingese

ˌtäŋ-kiŋ-ˈēz 

-ˈēs