Khubilai

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Thirteenth-century Mongol ruler, grandson of Genghis Khan, who founded the Yuan dynasty and became emperor of China
2. The grandson of Genghis Khan who established the Yuan dynasty in China and ruled as its first emperor
3. A Mongol leader of the 1200s, Genghis Khan's grandson, who founded China's Yuan dynasty and held the imperial throne

Etymology: Khubilai is the name of the Mongol emperor better known in English as Kublai Khan (1215-1294), founder of the Yuan dynasty in China. The name is Mongolian, and the best-supported reading of it is "Khubilai" from a root meaning "to dig" or "to dig up," though the exact etymology of the name remains uncertain. Its English spelling "Kublai" came through Marco Polo's account of his travels, which reached European readers in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, and the form "Khubilai" reflects a transliteration closer to the Mongolian pronunciation. Note that the word "khan" in "Kublai Khan" is a separate title, meaning ruler or leader, and it was used for Mongol rulers generally. So the name itself is the personal name Khubilai, while "Khan" is his title. Spelling variants like "Qubilai" and "Kubilai" appear in scholarly works, reflecting different transliteration systems.