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Definition of xi'an
xi'an
• noun
1
The capital city of Shaanxi Province in central China, historically marking the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and renowned globally as the site of the ancient Terracotta Army.
Word Nuance & Usage
The apostrophe in Xi'an is used in Pinyin romanization to separate the syllables 'xi' and 'an', preventing mispronunciation or confusion with the single syllable 'xian'.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.
180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer
Cite this Entry
Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Xi'an. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Nov 5, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/xi'an