(Find the OED Database on the King Library Website listing of Databases)
[Poetic ad. Xandu, i.e. Shang-tu, the Mongol city founded by Kublai Khan.]
A place suggestive of the Xanadu portrayed in
Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan, with its dream-like magnificence and
luxury.
Dates of reference and quotations where Xanadu appears in literature are
below:
[1625
Purchas his Pilgrimes III. I.
iv. 80 Xandu, which the great Chan Cublay..built;
erecting..a maruellous..palace of marble.
1816
S. T. COLERIDGE
Kubla Khan 55 In Xanadu
did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree.]
1948
�J. TEY�
Franchise Affair
i. 7 To that douce country lawyer..Scotland Yard was as
exotic as Xanadu, Hollywood, or parachuting.
1958
M. KENNEDY
Outlaws on Parnassus xi. 165
Desirable readers..do not expect Xanadu to put them in mind of
Yarmouth.
1962 Holiday
Aug. 70/1 It was only about half an hour's drive to the
Xanadu of le facteur Cheval.
1969
Guardian 12 Nov. 5/7 Bob's double-tiered
hideaway..overlooking the fairy-lit battlements of his Xanadu in
Mayfair.
1972
K. BONFIGLIOLI
Don't point that Thing at Me viii. 76
The Ambassador was at some Xanadu-like golf-links far away.
1977 Time
25 July 2/1 We have lived in Southern California for
twelve years and watched nearly everything encapsulate itself within a
plastic bubble; not only giant �pop Xanadus� like Sea World and
Universal Studios, but also miniature golf courses, shopping centers and
finally the American home.