Arakan

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A coastal region in western Myanmar bordering Bangladesh, historically a separate kingdom and now known as Rakhine State ; a person belonging to the Rakhine or Arakanese people of that region
2. A historic coastal territory of western Myanmar on the border with Bangladesh, today called Rakhine State ; an individual from the Arakanese or Rakhine ethnic community living there
3. The western Burmese coastal area along the Bangladesh frontier, formerly an independent kingdom and now Rakhine State ; a native of that land, of the Rakhine or Arakanese people

Etymology: Arakan is the older English spelling of a region on the western coast of Myanmar, now more commonly written Rakhine. The name is a proper noun, and the spelling "Aracan" was the form used in English texts for centuries before "Arakan" became common. The two spellings are simply variant transliterations of the same name, and the region's own name, Rakhine, is the form the local people use today.