# Zhao

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /ʒaʊ/ · frequency rank #21,984

## Definitions
1. A former city-state in Hongdong, Shanxi, China, under the Zhou.
2. A former kingdom in Shanxi and Hebei, China, during the Warring States.
3. A former kingdom in Hebei, China, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
4. A former prefecture of imperial China around Zhaozhou within modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei.
5. A county in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China
6. A surname from Chinese.

## Etymology
From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 趙 /赵 (Zhào), an ancient city name. Doublet of Trieu.

## Easily confused with
- **Zo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zhao-vs-zo)
- **zoo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zhao-vs-zoo)
- **zhu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zhao-vs-zhu)
- **Zia** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zhao-vs-zia)
- **zhou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zhao-vs-zhou)
- **Zhen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zhao-vs-zhen)
- **za** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/za-vs-zhao)
- **zac** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zac-vs-zhao)
- **zak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zak-vs-zhao)
- **zap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zap-vs-zhao)
- **zag** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zag-vs-zhao)
- **zero** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zero-vs-zhao)
- **zeal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zeal-vs-zhao)
- **Zeno** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zeno-vs-zhao)
- **zhang** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/zhang-vs-zhao)

## Common misspellings (5)
`hzao`, `zaho`, `zhhao`, `zhoa`, `zzhao`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/zhao