Xanadu
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Xanadu
- /ˈzænəduː/
Where it comes from
From Mandarin 上都 (Shàngdū, “Upper Capital”). The first Romanized form comes from Marco Polo's writings in Italian as Shan-Du. In 1617, Purchas his Pilgrimage […] by Samuel Purchas was published in London, containing the phrase “In Xamdu did Cublai Can build a stately Palace” on page 472. This was the inspiration for Coleridge's poem which uses the spelling Xanadu.
proper noun
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The summer capital of the Yuan dynasty, now an archaeological site in Zhenglan, Xilingol, Inner Mongolia, China.
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree: / Where Alph, the sacred river, ran / Through caverns measureless to man / Down to a sunless sea.
Similar: Shangdu
noun Xanadus
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A place full of beauty, happiness and wonder.
A place where nobody dared to go
The love that we came to know
They call it Xanadu
And now, open your eyes and see
What we have made is real
We are in Xanadu
Similar: heaven, paradise, Shangri-La
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An opulent building or resort that provides entertainment or luxurious living.
“The United States in the twenties was dotted with a thousand Xanadus,” wrote movie-theater historian Ben Hall."
Similar: pleasure palace, pleasuredome, Shangri-La
Talk about this word "Xanadu." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/xanadu. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. Xanadu. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/xanadu "Xanadu." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/xanadu.Cite this
@misc{xanadu_2026,
title = {Xanadu},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/xanadu},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
