Pekingese

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A small breed of dog originating from China, characterized by a long flowing coat, a flat face, and a lion-like appearance
2. A diminutive canine known for its thick, silky fur, distinctive pushed-in nose, and origins tracing back to the Chinese imperial palace
3. A compact toy dog recognized for its abundant hair, brachycephalic facial structure, and heritage linked to traditional Chinese royalty and companionship

Etymology: The dog is named after a city, and the city's name was spelled in a way that now looks odd to most readers. "Peking" is the spelling produced by the Postal Map romanization system, a older Western transliteration of what is now written "Beijing." The adjective-forming suffix "-ese," which English borrowed from Latin through French and usually attaches to place names, turns the city into a description of anything from it. So "Pekingese" simply means "of Peking," a pattern shared with words like "Maltese" and "Japanese." Because the spelling reflects a romanization system rather than current Chinese pinyin, the word preserves a historical form of the city's name. Anyone who has seen "Peking" on older maps or in older books is looking at the same place-name that produced this word, even though the modern city name is spelled differently.

Synonyms: Pekingese dog, Pekinese, Chinese lapdog