Forbidden City
4
4.9
- proper noun
:
Ciudad Prohibida
- "I was in the Forbidden City in Beijing, in 1985, in my late 20s, and wanting to explain something of the land I saw around me to myself.
- Forbidden City in Beijing
- Gate of the Forbidden City
- Entrance to the Forbidden City
Examples
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Camera pulls back to reveal Tiananmen Square and the huge photo of Chairman Mao on the front of the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City.
Fiction book (1991) -
Lama Temple was the residence of Emperor Yongzheng before he was enthroned in the Forbidden City in the Qing Dynasty.
Blog text (17) -
The only possible candidate for your list that I can think of is the Forbidden City in Beijing.
Blog text (26) -
Stop here and climb the hill in the center of the park for a remarkable view of the Forbidden City.
Blog text (17) -
Separated from the foreign compound by only a wall and a gate, is the Forbidden City.
-
Tiananmen Square, gateway to the Forbidden City, is bigger than a postage stamp.
Fiction book (2001) -
Home to the emperor, Beijing's Forbidden City housed 100,000 of his personal friends, members of the imperial court.
Fiction book (2001) -
Arguably the most majestic human-built mountain for a geomantic purpose is the Jingshan Mountain, behind the Forbidden City Palace of Beijing, China.
Academic text (2011) -
The store, Apple's third official outlet in Beijing and its sixth on the Chinese mainland, has a first-class address: the renowned shopping street of Wangfujing, near the Forbidden City.
Blog text (22) -
The Forbidden City is now a popular museum that attracts millions of visitors each year.
Synonyms
30
3.5
A large, fancy building used for public shows
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'forbidden' and 'city' can infer that this refers to a place that was off-limits or closed to people, so the basic idea (a city/place not open to the public) is accessible from the parts. However, as a proper name for Beijing's specific imperial palace complex the full historical/locational meaning and museum status are not predictable from the constituents alone, making the item only partially transparent.
Etymology
Forbidden City comes from when the emperor's palace in Beijing was closed to almost everyone. The word forbidden means 'not allowed' and city shows it was a very large, separate place for the royal family. Today it is a museum open to visitors, but the old name still reminds us that it used to be closed.