*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of Kyoto

Borrowed from Japanese 京(きょう)都(と) (Kyōto, literally “capital city”), from Middle Chinese 京都 (kjæng-tu, “capital (of a country)”).

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
name

A prefecture on the island of Honshu, Japan. · The capital city of Kyoto Prefecture, Japan; and the country's former capital. · The Kyoto Protocol.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Borrowed from Japanese 京(きょう)都(と) (Kyōto, literally “capital city”), from Middle Chinese 京都 (kjæng-tu, “capital (of a country)”).

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "bor+",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ja",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Borrowed from Japanese"
    },
    {
      "name": "ja-r",
      "args": {
        "1": "京%都",
        "2": "^きょう%と",
        "lit": "capital city"
      },
      "expansion": "京(きょう)都(と) (Kyōto, literally “capital city”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ltc",
        "3": "京都",
        "4": "",
        "5": "capital (of a country)",
        "tr": "kjæng-tu"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Chinese 京都 (kjæng-tu, “capital (of a country)”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "京(きょう)都(と)",
      "京都#Japanese"
    ],
    [
      "京都",
      "京都#Middle_Chinese"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A prefecture on the island of Honshu, Japan.",
        "The capital city of Kyoto Prefecture, Japan; and the country's former capital.",
        "The Kyoto Protocol."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "9e5ab9832e4ca238252c20a58f77bd452de9ff493df216da3c5c217fd86d67fa",
      "rawRecordSha256": "612dc9e7eaca5f1bd9b7903345273a749d66e9c35cc3d335dd671ff468b6bada",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 392104
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Kyoto →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-S3lvdG8