In Azerbaijani Turkic language have different means of the word "house" and "palace". Usually, church-houses were custom during II century BC - VII century AD. "Mulk" is foreign word, came form Arabia during Caliphate Era. The word "Saray" is a castle, or government building which was considered to have particular administrative importance in various parts of the former Safavid Empire. Imarat or Igamatgah are big house which belong to rich people, khans, shahs. Same type buildings were popular in Midia, Afshar Empire, Karabakh Khanate, Baku Khanate, Shaddadids and etc. Now, the term "Villa" is very popular and modern in Azerbaijan since 1990's for capitalist system.
Old Era (BC 100-799):
Shirvanshahs Era (799-1539):
XIX-XXI centuries:
Residences of provincial Lieutenant-Governors:
The English word "palace" is used to translated the Chinese word 宮 (pronounced "gōng" in Mandarin). This character represents two rooms connected (呂), under a roof (宀). Originally the character applied to any residence or mansion, but starting with the Qin Dynasty (3rd century BC) it was used only for the residence of the emperor and members of the imperial family. Chinese palaces are different from post-Renaissance European palaces in the sense that they are not made up of one building only (however big and convoluted the building may be), but are in fact huge spaces surrounded by a wall and containing large separated halls (殿 diàn) for ceremonies and official business, as well as smaller buildings, galleries, courtyards, gardens, and outbuildings, more like the Roman or Carolingian palatium.
Apart from the main imperial palace, Chinese dynasties also had several other imperial palaces in the capital city where the empress, crown prince, or other members of the imperial family dwelled. There also existed palaces outside of the capital city called "away palaces" (離宮) where the emperors resided when traveling. The habit also developed of building garden estates in the countryside surrounding the capital city, where the emperors retired at times to get away from the rigid etiquette of the imperial palace, or simply to escape from the summer heat inside their capital. This practice reached a zenith with the Qing Dynasty, whose emperors built the fabulous Imperial Gardens (御園), now known in China as the Gardens of Perfect Brightness (圓明園), and better known in English as the Old Summer Palace. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty resided and worked in the Imperial Gardens, 8 km/5 miles outside of the walls of Beijing, the Forbidden City inside Beijing being used only for formal ceremonies.