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English word origin

Etymology of Mulan

From Mandarin 木蘭/木兰 (Mùlán, literally “magnolia”).

1 source sectionBrief source recordWiktionary 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 female warrior from Chinese folklore. · A county of Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. · A township in Huangpi district, Hubei, China. · A river in Fujian, China.

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

From Mandarin 木蘭/木兰 (Mùlán, literally “magnolia”).

Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cmn",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Mandarin"
    },
    {
      "name": "zh-l",
      "args": {
        "1": "木蘭",
        "lit": "magnolia",
        "tr": "Mùlán"
      },
      "expansion": "木蘭/木兰 (Mùlán, literally “magnolia”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "木蘭",
      "木蘭#Chinese"
    ],
    [
      "木兰",
      "木兰#Chinese"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A female warrior from Chinese folklore.",
        "A county of Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.",
        "A township in Huangpi district, Hubei, China.",
        "A river in Fujian, China."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "recordId": "83300d6fa6608d7f3c9018ef36f626ac61f04129f78c4832ccd530b6c4d5f0c5",
      "rawRecordSha256": "753a906e1f5822bb9877b8eff9d58b10ac9f8f84e033f5ba44c6e0a147e04a57",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 7998592
    }
  ],
  "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 Mulan →

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-TXVsYW4