name
Meaning 1
A river of Manchuria (northeastern China)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
liao
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.
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/ljaʊ/
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lyou
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -aʊ
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Singapore: [ljaʊ˦˨]
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Singapore: [ljaʊ˨˩]
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Singapore, interrogative: [ljaʊ˨]
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Singapore: [ljaʊ˦˨] in fixed expressions from Hokkien
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CMU ARPABET: L IY0 AW1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
name
Meaning 2
One of various medieval dynasties of Khitan rulers in Chinese history originally from its watershed
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Khitan
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 3
Liaoning, a Chinese province surrounding and named for the Liao watershed
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncommon
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 4
A surname from Chinese.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 5
Synonym of Rau, a people of southeastern China
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Rau
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
Meats, vegetables, and other ingredients added to an otherwise plain dish.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Singapore, colloquial, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
particle
Meaning 7
Indicates action completion, or more generally, perfective aspect.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Manglish, Singlish
Examples
- I run 4 laps liao.
- You decorate the cake liao?
- I’ve been working for six months liao.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: already
Antonyms: none provided
particle
Meaning 8
Marks a change in state, more or less in the same manner as the inchoative aspect (see usage notes).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Manglish, Singlish
Examples
- It’s going to rain liao.
- Reach liao, give me a call.
- Damn shag liao, need to go back and sleep.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: already
Antonyms: none provided
particle
Meaning 9
Marks a change in state, more or less in the same manner as the inchoative aspect (see usage notes).
Used to emphasize that something has to be done now.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Manglish, Singlish
Examples
- Go liao!
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: already
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
the dynasty that ruled much of Manchuria and northeastern China from 947 to 1125
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Liao dynasty
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: dynasty
History
Etymology
A romanization of the Mandarin Chinese pronunciation of 遼 /辽 (Liáo)
Borrowed from Mandarin 廖 (Liào).
A romanization of the Mandarin Chinese pronunciation of 僚 (Liáo)
From Mandarin 料 (liào, “ingredients”).
Borrowed from Hokkien 了 (liáu) and Teochew 了 (liao2), with tone and spelling influenced by Mandarin 了 (liǎo) and its romanization in Hanyu Pinyin.
Across languages
Translations
3 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Chinese Mandarin: 遼 /辽 (Liáo) — river; dynasties; abbreviation
- Chinese Mandarin: 廖 (Liào) — surname
- Chinese Mandarin: 僚 (Liáo) — people group