colloquial shortening of San Francisco, California, U.S., attested by 1856.

South Korean capital, from Korean soul, literally "capital." It was the national capital from 1392 until Japanese annexation in 1910.

a word applied by Europeans to any small, light boat on the Chinese pattern, used on the coasts of East Asia, 1610s, from Chinese san pan, literally "three boards," from san "three" + pan "plank." In 16c. Spanish made it cempan; Portuguese had it as champana.

Chinese capital, from bei "north" + jing "capital" (as opposed to Nanking, literally "southern capital").

"write or print in capital letters," 1764, from capital (n.1) + -ize. The meaning "convert (assets) to capital" is recorded from 1868, from capital (n.2). Related: Capitalized; capitalizing.

"American born of nisei parents; third-generation Japanese-American," 1945, from Japanese san "three, third" + sei "generation."

"reduce from the rank or position of a capital city," 1870; see de- + capital (n.1) + -ize. As "to remove the financial capital from," by 1913, from capital (n.2). In reference to letters, "to change from upper case to lower case," by 1899. Related: Decapitalized; decapitalization.

1926, American English, originally Levi's, from the name of the original manufacturer, Levi Strauss and Company of San Francisco. The Bavarian-born Strauss had been a dry-goods merchant in San Francisco since 1853; his innovation was the copper rivets at strain points, patented in 1873 according to the company. A cowboy's accessory at first, hip or fashionable from c. 1940s.

city in China, literally "southern capital," from Chinese nan "south" + jing "capital."

"the communist guerrilla force in Vietnam 1954-1976," also Vietcong, 1957, from Vietnamese, in full Viêt Nam Cong San, literally "Vietnamese communist."