大秦

Etymology

 * "Roman Empire"
 * Attested in the  (《後漢書·西域傳》) in a semi-legendary account as reported by the envoy (甘英).  believes that the name "[was] clearly not a transcription of a foreign word", and the identification remains vague. Unconvincingly, the passage in the Later Han attempts to explain:
 * In contrast, conjectured that the word may have indeed been a borrowing ultimately from, , etc. (transcribed as 剌丁 in his writing) based on comparisons among Sinitic languages; see also the Baxter–Sagart reconstruction below. However, this etymology remains hypothetical.
 * In contrast, conjectured that the word may have indeed been a borrowing ultimately from, , etc. (transcribed as 剌丁 in his writing) based on comparisons among Sinitic languages; see also the Baxter–Sagart reconstruction below. However, this etymology remains hypothetical.


 * "Roman Levant; Syria region; etc."
 * Used by 8th-century themselves (see quotation below) after contact with Tang Chinese literati.

Proper noun

 * 1)  the Roman Empire; the City of Rome; etc.
 * 2)  the Hellenistic or Greco-Roman world in general, the West
 * 3)  the  or the Roman Levant; the  under Roman dominion
 * 1)  the  or the Roman Levant; the  under Roman dominion