Xanadu
The origin and history of Xanadu.
Etymology
From the real Xanadu, the Yuan dynasty's summer capital in Mongolia, romanized via Marco Polo's travels; the word became a byword for splendor after Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1797 poem "Kubla Khan" ("In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree").
Class of 1797
Xanadu first entered the language around 1797. Other words from the same year:
See the full Class of 1797 →