Seoul

From Korean 서울 (Seoul, literally “capital city”), originally from Claude-Charles Dallet's French-based romanization of Korean, reinforced by the 1959 South Korean Ministry of Education romanization of Korean, which transcribed the Korean vowel ㅓ (/⁠ʌ⁠/) with the digraph "eo" and which was official until 1984.

Note that English Seoul predates the Revised Romanization romanization of Seoul. The two romanization systems simply produce identical forms.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /səʊl/
• (General American) enPR: sōl, IPA^(key): /soʊl/

• audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊl
• Homophones: sole, soul, sowl

Seoul

1. The capital city of South Korea, also the historical capital of Korea from 1394 until the country was divided in 1945.
   • 1956, Harry S. Truman, chapter 21, in Memoirs of Harry S. Truman: Years of Trial And Hope‎, volume II, Doubleday & Company, →OCLC, page 320:

     The Joint Commission provided for in the Moscow agreement began its work at Seoul, the ancient capital of Korea, on March 20, 1946. This Commission, which was, of course, the key element in the plan agreed upon at Moscow, was deadlocked almost from the start.

   • 2023 March 21, Dong-hwan Ko, “Possibly next SOHO, Seoul selects 5 neighborhoods for new signature 'K-alleys'”, in The Korea Times‎, archived from the original on 2023-05-13, National‎:

     With almost 10 million people living in 25 different districts and the Han River through the middle, Seoul offers more than even most locals who spend a considerable amount of time have time to see for themselves.

   • 2023 May 7, Michelle Ye Hee Lee, “Japanese prime minister visits Seoul, resuming ‘shuttle diplomacy’”, in The Washington Post‎, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-05-07, Asia‎:

     Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, reciprocating Yoon’s visit to Tokyo in March. In doing so, the two leaders marked the revival of their “shuttle diplomacy” to hold negotiations in each other’s countries and work through a series of thorny issues that have complicated their ties.

2. (metonymically) the South Korean government
   • 2022 June 21, “Seoul representative taking more ‘systematic’ approach”, in Taipei Times‎, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on June 20, 2022, Taiwan News, page 2‎:

     To that end, Seoul and Taipei signed a reciprocal driver’s license agreement in February, with immediate effect, to make driving easier for visitors on each side, he said.

   • 2023 May 7, Michelle Ye Hee Lee, “Japanese prime minister visits Seoul, resuming ‘shuttle diplomacy’”, in The Washington Post‎, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-05-07, Asia‎:

     After years of friction, Seoul and Tokyo are trying to collaborate more closely with each other and Washington to counter the looming geopolitical threats of China’s economic and military rise and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. The Biden administration has welcomed their efforts.

• (historical) Hanseong
• (from Japanese) Keijō
• (from Mandarin Chinese) Han-ch'eng, Hanyang

• Seoulite

• Pyongyang, capital city of North Korea

• “Seoul”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “Seoul, pn.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “Seoul”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “Seoul”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “Seoul” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.

• Eolus, Soule, eusol, loues, louse, oules, ousel, soule

From Korean 서울 (Seoul, literally “capital city”).

Seoul

1. Seoul (the capital of South Korea)

Seoul n

1. Alternative spelling of Seoel

• Söul, Soul (both rare)

Borrowed from Korean 서울 (Seoul, literally “capital city”).

• IPA^(key): /seˈuːl/, /sɔʊ̯l/, /soːl/, /zeˈuːl/, /zɔʊ̯l/, /zoːl/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːl, -ɔʊ̯l, -oːl
• Hyphenation: Se‧oul

Seoul n (proper noun, genitive Seouls or (optionally with an article) Seoul)

1. Seoul (the capital city of South Korea)

Seoul m or f

1. Alternative spelling of Seul

• eluso, esulo, esulò, suole

From Korean 서울 (seoul, “Seoul”), from Middle Korean 셔ᄫᅳᆯ (syeWul, “capital city”), possibly from Old Korean 徐羅伐 (서라벌 (Seorabeol)).

• IPA^(key): /sɔʊl/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔʊl
• Hyphenation: Seoul

Seoul

1. Seoul (the capital city of Seoul Capital Area, South Korea), also the historical capital of Korea from 1394 until the country was forcibly divided in 1945.

   Under Koreakrigen i 1950–1953 ble Seoul sterkt ødelagt.

   During the Korean War in 1950–1953, Seoul was severely destroyed.

• “Seoul” in Store norske leksikon

Seoul n (genitive Seouls)

1. Alternative spelling of Söul