yamun

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The official and private residence of a Chinese mandarin who holds a seal; the place where a mandarin transacts the business of the region or department under his care, and where he lives; a mandarin's office, court, residence, etc.
• noun Various transliterations of the Chinese word are in use: yamun, which is to be preferred
• noun yamăn, used by Dr. S. Wells Williams in his “Dictionary of the Chinese Language”
• noun yamen, originally introduced by Sir Thomas F. Wade, former British Minister in Peking, and now used in the diplomatic, consular, and customs' services of China: it is more particularly characteristic of the Pekingese “dialect”
• noun yamen, which is the same as the preceding with the circumflex omitted, owing to the poverty of the type-fonts used in type-setting machines
• noun yamön, the form preferred by Prof. F. Hirth of Columbia University, New York. In every case the pronunciation is the same.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun historical An official residence provided for Chinese officials