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Glite Dictionary
Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan

17 5.1
A Mongol leader who unites tribes and creates a large empire
  • proper noun
  • /ˈɡɛŋɡɪs kɑn/
: Gengis Kan
  • And when Tamerlane, Tamer the Lane invaded Syria, Tamer the Lane was one of Genghis Khan's descendants.
  • the Mongol emperor Genghis Khan
  • descendant of Genghis Khan
  • empire founded by Genghis Khan

Well, I think that it's easy to imagine that most men could have become Genghis Khan.

Examples

  • The Mongols under Genghis Khan had overrun much of Asia.

  • So were Genghis Khan and Mao Tse-Tung.

    Blog text (13)

  • I actually think Genghis Khan is a pretty awesome historical figure.

    Blog text (13)

  • Genghis Khan was the third son of a minor tribal chief, and look what he was able to achieve.

    Blog text (13)

  • Their leader Batu was the grandson of Genghis Khan.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The Mongols under Genghis Khan had overrun much of Asia.

  • 1,500 years later, a maniac named Genghis Khan would slaughter every inhabitant of a city of 160,000 after it surrendered, just to make others afraid.

    Blog text (10)

  • Strategic bombing began as an attempt to find clever, scientifically informed ways to shut down the enemy's war-making capability, and it ended with a butchery that would have been recognizable to Genghis Khan.

    Blog text (12)

  • Genghis Khan unified the Mongol tribes and created one of the largest empires in history.

  • Many historians consider Genghis Khan to be one of the most effective military leaders of all time.

Synonyms

Temujin
vsGenghis Khan
1 9.5

The birth name of Genghis Khan, the Mongol leader who founded a large empire

uses the official title emphasizing founding and rule rather than the birth name
Jenghiz Khan
vsGenghis Khan
8.2

A Mongolian ruler who founded the Mongol Empire and conquered lands in Asia and Europe

focuses on uniting tribes and founding the empire rather than later conquests

Surface Forms

Genghis Khan main

Morphology

Genghis + khan

The element 'khan' is a transparent lexical clue meaning 'ruler', so a learner who knows that word can infer that 'Genghis Khan' is a person with a ruling/title role; however 'Genghis' is an arbitrary proper name with no predictable meaning and does not convey the historical specifics (founder, unifier, 13th-century ruler). Because part of the meaning (that this is a ruler) is recoverable from constituents but the full historical sense is not derivable, the expression is best assessed as partially transparent.

Etymology

Genghis Khan: The name comes from a title given to Temujin after he united the Mongol tribes, where Genghis + Khan gave the idea of a 'universal ruler'. That's why the name brings to mind a single powerful leader who joined many peoples and founded a huge empire.