noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈhuːtɒŋ/
Received-Pronunciation:/-tʊŋ/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈhuˈtɑŋ/
General-American:/-tʊŋ/
ho͞o′to͝ong′
1
noun
Meaning 1
A narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a city in China, especially Beijing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Borrowed from the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 衚衕 /胡同 (hútòng), 胡同 (hútòng, “narrow street”), probably: * from Mongolian гудам (gudam), from Middle Mongol ᠭᠤᠳᠤᠮ (ɣudum, “corridor, passage, passageway”); or * from Mongolian худаг (xudag), ᠬᠤᠳᠳᠤᠭ (qudduɣ, “water well”) (from the prevalence of wells where people lived).
Across languages
Translations
16 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Chinese Cantonese:
衚衕 /胡同
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
Jin Chinese:
黑浪
(heh4 lon2)
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
Chinese Mandarin:
衚衕 /胡同
(hútòng)
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
Chinese Mandarin:
衚衕兒 /胡同儿
(hútòngr)
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
Chinese Mandarin:
巷
(xiàng)
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
Czech:
chu-tchung
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
French:
hutong
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
German:
Hutong
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
Japanese:
胡同
(kodō)
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
Japanese:
フートン
(fūton)
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
Korean:
후퉁
(hutung)
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
Lithuanian:
hutongai
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
Lithuanian:
hutunai
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
Russian:
хуту́н
(xutún)
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
Ukrainian:
хутун
(xutun)
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
Vietnamese:
hồ đồng
— narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a Chinese city
