Jin.
A river (晉水) in Shanxi Province, China, emptying into the Fen River.
Meaning & usage
A river (晉水) in Shanxi Province, China, emptying into the Fen River.
A marchland (c. 1046–677 BC) and duchy (677–376 BC) of the Zhou Kingdom around the river.
A Chinese surname.
A titular principality of the Wei Empire (est. AD 264) and other later Chinese states.
An empire in China (AD 265–420) established by Sima Yan's overthrow of the Wei and replaced by barbarian conquerors in the north and Liu Yu's Song Empire in the south.
Synonym of Sima: the dynasty which ruled this empire.
The late 3rd to early 5th century, the era during which the Sima clan were the legitimate emperors of China.
A river (Jin River, 晉江／晋江 (Jìnjiāng)) in Quanzhou Municipality, Fujian, China, emptying into the Taiwan Strait.
A prefecture of imperial China centered on Linfen, Shanxi.
Former name of Linfen as the seat of the prefecture.
An realm in early-10th century Shaanxi loyal to the Tang after their overthrow by the Later Liang.
The Later Jin, a short-lived empire in 10th-century Shaanxi; the 930s and '40s, the era of this empire.
Synonym of Shi: the dynasty which ruled this empire.
A Chinese dialect family (code cjy) spoken by about 45 million people in Shanxi and adjacent provinces.
Where this word comes from
The atonal Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 晉 /晋 (Jìn), adopted as the name of a river in Shanxi in antiquity. As a Zhou state, from the renaming of the marchland Tang (唐) by its second marquis Ji Xie when he relocated to the Jin River c. 1000 BC. As a surname, principally from the Zhou state and its region in China. As an empire and dynastic name, from Sima Yan's status as prince of Jin under the preceding Wei Empire. As a river in Fujian, named for the empire, which settled its banks with colonizers from China's Central Plains. As a dialect, from 晉語／晋语 (Jìnyǔ), from the region of the former Zhou state.
A Korean surname.
Where this word comes from
From Korean 진(晉) (jin).
A Chinese surname, given 29th among the Hundred Family Surnames.
A prefecture of imperial China centered on Ankang, Shaanxi.
Former name of Ankang as the seat of the prefecture.
An empire in northern China (AD 1115–1234) established by an invasion of Liao by the Wanyan Jurchens and overthrown by an invasion of the Mongols.
Synonym of Wanyan: the dynasty which ruled this empire.
Synonym of Jurchen: the Tungusic people who ruled this empire.
The 12th to early 13th century, the era during which the Wanyan clan were the legitimate emperors of northern China.
Synonym of Qing: the Chinese empire, dynasty, and era, (particularly) during the years 1616 to 1636, prior to the formal declaration of the Qing.
Where this word comes from
From the atonal Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 金 (Jīn, literally “gold, golden”). As a surname, legendarily derived from the descendants of Shaohao who took a golden phoenix as their tribal emblem. As an area and town in Shaanxi, named for the placer deposits of gold on the Yue River. As a Jurchen empire and dynastic name, a Chinese calque of Jurchen name of the Ashi River within modern Harbin, preserved in Chinese transcription as 按出虎 (Ànchūhǔ) (Middle Chinese: ʔan-tsyhwit-xu). As a Manchu empire and dynastic name, an early continuation of the former Jurchen name prior to the 1636 proclamation of the Qing.
A river (錦江) in Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces in China, emptying into the Bei or North River.
A river (錦江) in Sichuan Province, China, emptying into the Min River.
A river (錦江 (贛江支流)) in Jiangxi Province, China, emptying into the Gan River.
A prefecture of imperial China centered on Luyang, Hunan.
Former name of Luyang as the seat of the prefecture.
Where this word comes from
From the atonal Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Chinese 錦 /锦 (Jǐn).
A Chinese surname.
A river (靳江) in Hunan Province, China, emptying into the Xiang River.
Where this word comes from
From the atonal Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Chinese 靳 (Jìn). As a surname, legendarily derived from Zhurong.
An ancient state or tribal confederation in northern Korea.
Synonym of Balhae, a northern Korean state, (particularly) between its AD 698 founding and 712 renaming.
A Korean surname.
Where this word comes from
From the revised romanization of Korean 진 (jin). As an ancient kingdom, originally from Chinese 辰 (chén, “5th earthly branch”), possibly used by the ancient state from its association with "east". As the medieval precursor of Balhae, originally Chinese 震, possibly intended as a variant of the original state's name (Middle Chinese: dzyin) or to signify "thunderclap", "shock", "tremor", etc. As a surname, the modern Korean form of originally separate names derived from Chinese 陳 /陈 (chén), 秦 (Qín), 眞 /真 (zhēn), as well as 晉 above.
A Japanese male given name.
Where this word comes from
From Japanese 仁 (“Jin”, literally “benevolence”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.