Seoul
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /səʊl/
enpr: sōl
ipa: /soʊl/
rhymes: -əʊl
homophone: sole
homophone: soul
homophone: sowl
Etymology: From Korean 서울 (Seoul, literally “capital city”), originally from Claude-Charles Dallet's French-based romanization of Korean, reinforced by the 1959 South Korean Ministry of Education romanization of Korean, which transcribed the Korean vowel ㅓ (/⁠ʌ⁠/) with the digraph "eo" and which was official until 1984.
Note that English Seoul predates the Revised Romanization romanization of Seoul. The two romanization systems simply produce identical forms.
Senses: examples: text: The Joint Commission provided for in the Moscow agreement began its work at Seoul, the ancient capital of Korea, on March 20, 1946. This Commission, which was, of course, the key element in the plan agreed upon at Moscow, was deadlocked almost from the start.
ref: 1956, Harry S. Truman, chapter 21, in Memoirs of Harry S. Truman: Years of Trial And Hope, volume II, Doubleday & Company, →OCLC, page 320:
text: With almost 10 million people living in 25 different districts and the Han River through the middle, Seoul offers more than even most locals who spend a considerable amount of time have time to see for themselves.
ref: 2023 March 21, Dong-hwan Ko, “Possibly next SOHO, Seoul selects 5 neighborhoods for new signature 'K-alleys'”, in The Korea Times, archived from the original on 13 May 2023, National:
text: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, reciprocating Yoon’s visit to Tokyo in March. In doing so, the two leaders marked the revival of their “shuttle diplomacy” to hold negotiations in each other’s countries and work through a series of thorny issues that have complicated their ties.
ref: 2023 May 7, Michelle Ye Hee Lee, “Japanese prime minister visits Seoul, resuming ‘shuttle diplomacy’”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 May 2023, Asia:
glosses: The capital city of South Korea, also the historical capital of Korea from 1394 until the country was divided in 1945.
examples: text: To that end, Seoul and Taipei signed a reciprocal driver’s license agreement in February, with immediate effect, to make driving easier for visitors on each side, he said.
ref: 2022 June 21, “Seoul representative taking more ‘systematic’ approach”, in Taipei Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Jun 2022, Taiwan News, page 2:
text: After years of friction, Seoul and Tokyo are trying to collaborate more closely with each other and Washington to counter the looming geopolitical threats of China’s economic and military rise and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. The Biden administration has welcomed their efforts.
ref: 2023 May 7, Michelle Ye Hee Lee, “Japanese prime minister visits Seoul, resuming ‘shuttle diplomacy’”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 May 2023, Asia:
glosses: the South Korean government
Synonyms: word: Hanseong
sense: from Japanese
word: Keijō
sense: from Mandarin Chinese
word: Han-ch'eng
word: Hanyang
Derived terms: Seoulite
Related terms: Pyongyang
capital city of North Korea