Annam

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A former kingdom and historical region along the central coast of what is now Vietnam
2. An old name for the central part of Vietnam, once under imperial Vietnamese and later French rule
3. A historical territory in central Vietnam that was formerly a French protectorate and part of Indochina

Etymology: The name "Annam" is a Chinese-derived label that Vietnam itself once used. The Chinese characters 安南 (Ānnán) mean roughly "pacified south," a name that Chinese courts applied to the region of Vietnam, and the Vietnamese adopted it as "An Nam." English took the name from the Vietnamese form, and French, which had a strong colonial presence in the region, reached English as well through its own spelling, "Annam." For English speakers, the word therefore names a historical state rather than a modern country. It was the usual name for central and northern Vietnam under the Nguyễn dynasty and the French protectorate, and it survives mainly in historical writing and in place names.