text: The First Emperor intended that his realm would remain intact through the ages but, following its overthrow and replacement by Han after his death, it became customary to prefix his title with Qin. Thus:
  , Qín or Ch'in, "of Qin"
  , Shǐ or Shih, "first"
  , Huángdì or Huang-ti, "emperor", a new term coined from
  , Huáng or Huang, literally "shining" or "splendid" and formerly most usually applied "as an epithet of Heaven", a title of the Three Sovereigns, the high god of the Zhou
  , Dì or Ti, the high god of the Shang, possibly composed of their divine ancestors, and used by the Zhou as a title of the legendary Five Emperors, particularly the Yellow Emperor
  As early as Sima Qian, it was common to shorten the resulting four-character Qin Shi Huangdi to , variously transcribed as Qin Shihuang or Qin Shi Huang.
  Following his elevation as emperor, both Zheng's personal name  and possibly its homophone  became taboo. The First Emperor also arrogated the first-person Chinese pronoun  (OC *lrəm', mod. zhèn) for his exclusive use and in 212 BC began calling himself The Immortal  OC *Tin-niŋ, mod. Zhēnrén, lit. "True Man"). Others were to address him as "Your Majesty"  mod. Bìxià, lit. "Beneath the Palace Steps") in person and "Your Highness" () in writing.