Tibet

Meaning

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A geographic region in Central Asia (mostly in China), the homeland of the Tibetan people, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau.
(historical) A former country in East Asia that existed from 1912 until its annexation by China in 1951.
An autonomous region of China. Official name: Tibet Autonomous Region. Capital: Lhasa.

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/tɪˈbɛt/

Cognate with Tibetan

^བོད

In summary

Of unclear origin, but probably from Old Turkic 𐱅𐰇𐰯𐰇𐱅 (Töpüt) ('hilly, mountainous place') via Classical Persian تبت (tabbat, tubbat). In one proposed etymology the ultimate origin is Tibetan བོད (Bod), used in the compound name sTod-bod (pronounced Tö-pöt), meaning “Upper Tibet”. In another proposal, the name comes via Mongolian Töpüt from an alteration of Old Turkic 𐱅𐰇𐰯𐰇 (töpü, “height, summit”). Bialek instead derives the name from Old Tibetan དཔོན (dpon, “leader, ruler”), with addition of the Old Turkic plural suffix -𐱅 (-t²) and a epenthetic vowel to break up the non-Turkic initial consonant cluster [tp]; according to her, Middle Chinese 吐蕃 (thu^X bjon) comes from the same source.