Macau

Alternative forms

• Macao, Amacao

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese Macau, from a southern seaward variety of Chinese, possibly Hokkien, possibly either 媽閣／妈阁 (Má Koh)^[1] or 媽港／妈港 (Má Káng), short for 阿媽港／阿妈港 (A-má Káng),^[2] from 阿媽／阿妈 (a-má, “grandma Mazu, patron goddess of sailors”) + 港 (káng, “port”), both referring to the A-Ma Temple (媽閣廟／妈阁庙) or Templo de A-Má in Portuguese, built in 1488 before the city of Macau came into being. Compare Spanish Macán, Japanese 媽港(マカオ) (makao), Latin Machao.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məˈkaʊ/
• Rhymes: -aʊ

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

Proper noun

Macau

1. A special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, west of Hong Kong, previously under Portuguese control.
   • 1598, “24 Of the courſe out of the Hauen of Macau in China to the Iſland of Pulo Tymon, & the ſtraight of Sincapura.”, in W. P., transl., The Nauigation of the Portingales into the Eaſt Indies‎, London: John Wolfe, page 349:

     When you depart from Macau to ye other coaſt, you must put out at the Eaſt chanel, if the wind bee Northweſt, if not, then you cannot paſſe, that way, but you muſt ſayle thorough the ſouthweſt chanel, which is a good way to paſſe out, running from the point of Varella, right unto the land on the other ſide of Macau, […]

   • [1671, Arnoldus Montanus, translated by John Ogilby, Atlas Chinensis‎, London: Tho. Johnson, translation of original in Dutch, →OCLC, page 531:

     SOuthward from the County of Quancheufu, lie many ſmall Iſlands in the Sea ; on one of which, being a little hanging Iſle, or rather a Rock, joyn'd to a great Iſland, lieth the City Makao, otherwiſe call'd Amacao, Machao, and Makau, poſſeſs'd by the Portugueſe, on a Promontory, ſo naturally Fortifi'd, that it is almoſt invincible.]

   • 1990, Shann Davies, Macau‎, Passport Books, →ISBN Invalid ISBN, page 10:

     Within 20 years, Macau had become an international city and one of the richest places on earth, thanks to investment in the cargoes shipped through the port.

   • 2015 September 12, Jochen Faget, “Crisis in China's gambling paradise”, in DW News‎, archived from the original on 12 September 2015‎:

     Open 24 hours a day and seven days a week, Macau's 35 casinos entertain around 30 million visitors each year, making over 30 billion euros in revenue. These are figures which make the US gambling city of Las Vegas look like a desert village. […]
     Macau is the only place in China where gambling is officially permitted. Until the end of 1999, the peninsula was a Portuguese colony. Since it was handed back to China, the city of 600,000 people located at the mouth of the Pearl River has been a largely autonomous Special Administrative Region (SAR).

   • 2023 March 22, Nicole Hong, Alexandra Stevenson, “China Approves an mRNA Covid Vaccine, Its First”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 March 2023, Business‎:

     At the height of the Covid wave, some mainland residents ventured across the border to the Chinese territory of Macau to find foreign-made mRNA vaccines.

See also

References

Further reading

• “Macau”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• Category:Macau on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• Macau on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Macau on Wikiquote.Wikiquote
• Macau on Wikivoyage.Wikivoyage

Anagrams

• Cà Mau, cauma

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [məˈkaw]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [maˈkaw]

Proper noun

Macau m

1. Macau (a city and special administrative region of China)

Etymology

From Portuguese Macau.

Proper noun

Macau

1. Macau (a city and special administrative region of China)

Alternative forms

• Macao, Macão, Maquão, Maçhoam, Machoam (a-elided, obsolete)
• Ama Cuão, amaquan, Amacao, Amacão, Amacuão, Amaquão, Amangão, Amagão, Amaquam (obsolete)

Etymology

From a southern seaward variety of Chinese, possibly Hokkien, possibly either 媽閣／妈阁 (Má Koh)^[1] or 媽港／妈港 (Má Káng), short for 阿媽港／阿妈港 (A-má Káng),^[2] from 阿媽／阿妈 (a-má, “grandma Mazu, patron goddess of sailors”) + 港 (káng, “port”), both referring to the A-Ma Temple (媽閣廟／妈阁庙) or Templo de A-Má in Portuguese, built in 1488 before the city of Macau came into being. The initial ⟨A⟩ was likely elided due to misconstruing with Portuguese a (“towards; to; at; in”). Compare Spanish Macán, Japanese 媽港(マカオ) (makao), Latin Machao.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aw
• Hyphenation: Ma‧cau

Proper noun

Macau m

1. Macau (a city and special administrative region of China)

References

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈkau/ [maˈkau̯]
• Rhymes: -au

Proper noun

Macau ?

1. Alternative form of Macao

Further reading

• “Macao” in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas, segunda edición, Real Academia Española, 2023. →ISBN

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /maˈkaw/ [mɐˈxaʊ̯]
• Rhymes: -aw
• Syllabification: Ma‧cau

Proper noun

Macáu (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜃᜏ᜔)

1. Alternative spelling of Makaw