The word 奥匈帝国 is formed by abbreviating the Chinese names for Austria and Hungary and combining them with the word for empire: 奥 is taken from 奥地利 (Àodìlì, Austria), 匈 is taken from 匈牙利 (Xiōngyálì, Hungary), and 帝国 (dìguó) means "empire", resulting in a direct translation of "Austro-Hungarian Empire".