What does "mazu" mean?

A Chinese sea goddess, the deified form of Lin Moniang, a medieval Fujianese girl who became revered as a sea goddess and, since the Qing dynasty, especially in Taiwan, more generally as the primary goddess of Heaven.

What is a synonym for "mazu"?

Common synonyms include: lienchiang, nangan, nankan.

Mazu

name

name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Proper Noun

1
A Chinese sea goddess, the deified form of Lin Moniang, a medieval Fujianese girl who became revered as a sea goddess and, since the Qing dynasty, especially in Taiwan, more generally as the primary goddess of Heaven.
"The goddess of the sea is Ma-tsoo-po, called also Teen-how, ‘queen of heaven.’ She is said to have been a virgin, who lived some centuries ago in Fuhkeen, near the district of Fuh-chow On account of having, with great fortitude, and by a kind of miracle, saved her brother who was on the point of drowning, she was deified, and loaded with titles, not dissimilar to those bestowed on the Virgin Mary."
2
Alternative form of Matsu (archipelago). alt-of, alternative
"According to the public notice issued by China, the sphere of the joint ground, sea and air exercise started from Nanri Island in the south and ended in the sea area opposite Jiangtian in the north, covering a sea area of approximately 6,000 square kilometres. It was only 30 kilometres away from the Taiwan-controlled Mazu Islands [Matsu]."
3
Alternative form of Matsu (island). alt-of, alternative
"The Nationalists used their control of offshore islands in a harassing blockade of China's central and southeast coasts. The Dachen Islands, two hundred miles south of Shanghai, interfered with trade to China's most important port. Mazu Island blocked the sea lanes to Fuzhou in Fujian Province, and Jinmen (Quemoy) blocked Fujian's second port of Xiamen."

Synonyms

All synonyms

lienchiang nangan nankan

Example

More examples

"The goddess of the sea is Ma-tsoo-po, called also Teen-how, ‘queen of heaven.’ She is said to have been a virgin, who lived some centuries ago in Fuhkeen, near the district of Fuh-chow On account of having, with great fortitude, and by a kind of miracle, saved her brother who was on the point of drowning, she was deified, and loaded with titles, not dissimilar to those bestowed on the Virgin Mary."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Mandarin 媽祖／妈祖 (Māzǔ).

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Mandarin 馬祖／马祖 (Mǎzǔ).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.