China

From Portuguese China,^[1][2] from possibly Venetan Cina probably under influence from Old French Chin,^[3] from Classical Persian چین (čīn) under influence from Medieval Latin Sina (“China”), from Middle Persian 𐭰𐭩𐭭 (Čīn, “China”), from Sanskrit चीन (cīna, “the Chinese; China”) of uncertain etymology. It is usually thought to be derived from Chinese 秦 (Qín) (sm Qín, mc d͡ziɪn, oc *zin, "Qin"), the westernmost ancient Chinese state,^[4][5][6] but other theories have been proposed, including derivation from 晉 / 晋 (jìn) (sm Jìn, mc t͡siɪn, oc *ʔsins, "Jin"), another important ancient state;^[7] 荊 / 荆 (jīng) (sm Jīng, mc kˠiæŋ, oc *keŋ, "Chu"), the southernmost ancient Chinese state;^[8] or Zina, the endonym of the people of the Yelang kingdom.^[8] See "Names of China" and "Chinas" at Wikipedia. As a female name, usually derived via china (“porcelain”) and china doll, ultimately from the same source.

• (area and state in East Asia): Chin (obsolete)
• (female name): Chyna

• (UK, US) enPR: chī'nə, IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃaɪnə/, [ˈt͡ʃ(ʰ)aɪ̯nə]
• enPR: chīʹnu̇^[9]

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

  • Audio (US, female voice):

    (file)

  • Audio (US, male voice):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪnə

China (usually uncountable, plural Chinas)

2. A cultural region and civilization in East Asia, occupying the region around the Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl Rivers, taken as a whole under its various dynasties.

   China has 5000 years of history.

   • 1555, Peter Martyr, translated by Richard Eden, The Decades of the Newe Worlde..., folio 230 verso:

     The great China, whose kyng is thought... the greatest prince in the worlde.

   • 1693, Robert Morden, “Of China”, in Geography Rectified; or a Description of the World‎^[6], 3rd edition, →OCLC, page 438:

     All China is divided into 15 Provinces, which are bigger than large Kingdoms.

   • 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC:

     If he tells them to build a palace forty miles long, out of di'monds, and fill it full of chewing gum, or whatever you want, and fetch an emperor's daughter from China for you to marry, they've got to do it—and they've got to do it before sun-up next morning, too.

4. A large country in East Asia, occupying the region around the Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl Rivers; the People's Republic of China, since 1949.
   • 1971 December 6, “A Size-up of President Nixon: Interview with Mike Mansfield, Senate Democratic Leader”, in US News & World Report, page 61:

     'Only a Nixon' Could Go to China

   • 2017, Donald J. Trump, speech at Make America Great Again Rally, Harrisburg, PA

     And I met with the President of China at great length in Florida, and we had long, long talks—hours and hours and hours.

   China is 75 years old as of October 1, 2024.

   • 2025 February 1, Kevin Liptak, “With stiff tariffs he promised now in place, Trump opens a new trade war”, in CNN‎^[7]:

     Saturday’s tariffs are unlikely to be Trump’s last. The president said himself said in the Oval Office that additional tariffs could come by mid-February on chips, pharmaceuticals, steel, aluminum, copper, oil and gas imports – along with tariffs on the European Union – all threats that few would discount given his willingness to follow through on the North American and China tariffs on Saturday.

5. Synonym of mainland China.

   The gambling winnings were transferred from Macau to China.

6. (historical) Any of the empires occupying similar territory to that of the modern nation of , ruled under various dynasties up through the early 20th century.
7. (historical) The Republic of China prior to 1949, and sometimes after that time, particularly up through the early 1970's or so (when the People's Republic of China assumed the United Nations seat allocated to china).
8. (rare) A female given name.
   • 2001, Susan Wittig Albert, chapter 1, in Bloodroot, Berkley Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 3:

     My name is China Bayles. I'm the owner of Thyme and Seasons and the co-owner, with Ruby Wilcox, of a new tearoom called Thyme for Tea.

   • 2014, Neil D. A. Stewart, The Glasgow Coma Scale, Constable & Robinson, →ISBN, page 159:

     'What's her name, this girl?' The fight had hoarsened Lynne's voice, and the words came out strangely staccato - a wooden doll that had just learned to speak.
     'China,' he mumbled, feeling an obscure desire to invent a pseudonym for her.
     'What an interesting name.'
     Angus struck the table edge hard. 'Aw, don't gies it.'
     'I don't know what you mean. Or is it a nickname? Fragile, is she?'

9. An unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Indiana, United States.
10. A town in Kennebec County, Maine, United States.
11. An unincorporated community in Howell County, Missouri, United States.
12. A hamlet in Delaware County, New York, United States.
13. A small city in Jefferson County, Texas, United States.
14. A municipality and town in Nuevo León, Mexico.

• An 1844 map of China (i.e., the Qing Empire), including Taiwan, Mongolia, Korea, outer Manchuria (now Russian), and Assam in India.
• A 1932 map of the Far East, showing China (i.e., China proper) without Manchuria, Mongolia (i.e., Greater Mongolia), "Sinkiang", "Tibit", or Japanese Taiwan.
• A map of the divisions of the Republic of China in 1944, from the American propaganda film Why We Fight: The Battle of China.
• The CIA's 2008 map of China, showing the PRC's claim on Taiwan (but not the South China Sea) and India's claim on the PRC (but not China's on Arunachal Pradesh).
• A 2002 map of the railways of China, showing the PRC and ROC's nine-dash claim in the South China Sea. Both Chinas also claim the "Diaoyu" Islands, currently administered as Japan's Senkakus.

• (nation): Cathay (northern medieval China, archaic); Manji, Mangi (southern medieval China, archaic); Han (culture); Greater China (inclusive of Taiwan, non-Han autonomous regions, and the SARs but not always all Chinese claims); Chinkland (pejorative); Sinim (some religious contexts)
• (state): Middle Kingdom (literary), Chinese Empire; Celestial Kingdom, Flowery Kingdom (archaic); Zhongguo (rare)
• (principal states at different periods): Xia, Shang, Zhou (kingdoms); Qin, Han, Jin, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing, Chinese Empire, Empire of China (empires); Warring States, Three Kingdoms (regions); Republic of China or Chinese Republic, People's Republic of China or Chinese People's Republic

• Sino-

China (countable and uncountable, plural Chinas)

1. Alternative letter-case form of china: porcelain tableware.
2. (obsolete) A Chinese person.
3. (obsolete) Alternative form of cheyney: woollen stuff; items made or filled with cheyney.
4. Clipping of China rose, various flowers.
5. (botany, beverages) Clipping of China tea.
6. (rhyming slang) Alternative form of china: a mate, a friend.

• Appendix:Countries of the world
• "Names of China" and "China in world languages" at Wikipedia

From Japanese 知名(ちな) (China).

• IPA^(key): /tʃi.nɑː/

China

1. A town in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.
   • 2022 December 24, “School on Japan island lends electric scooters to students for eco-friendly, cheap commute”, in The Mainich‎^[8]:

     According to the town of China, if all students commuting by motorcycles switched to electric ones, carbon emissions could be reduced to under one-fourth of the current amount.

   • 2024 August 21, “Linguists rush to preserve rare dialect on remote Kagoshima isle”, in The Asahi Shinbun‎^[9]:

     The two towns on the island, China (pronounced chee-nah) and Wadomari, along with neighboring Tokunoshima island, each have different dialects.

• “China, n.¹ and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.

• hican, Chi-an, chain, Chain, Chian, Anich, Achin

• Sjina

From Dutch China.

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃi.na]

• Audio:

  (file)

China

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃina/ [ˈt͡ʃi.na]
• Rhymes: -ina
• Syllabification: Chi‧na

China f

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

• chinu

China

1. China (a country in Asia)

From English China, from Portuguese China, from Sanskrit चीन (cīna, “the Chinese; China”), see English section for further etymology.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtʃina/

China f

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

• Sina (obsolete)

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃinaː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Chi‧na
• Rhymes: -inaː

China n

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

China f

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

• chinés

Possibly from Dutch China, from possibly Portuguese China, from Persian چین (čin, “China”), from Middle Persian 𐭰𐭩𐭭 (čīn, “China”), ultimately from Sanskrit चीन (cīna).

• IPA^(key): /ˈçiːna/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• IPA^(key): [ˈkiːna] (Southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland)

  • Audio:

    (file)

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃiːna] (Northern Germany, western Germany)

  • Audio:

    (file)

• IPA^(key): [ˈxiːna] (Switzerland)

• Hyphenation: Chi‧na

China n (proper noun, genitive Chinas or (optionally with an article) China, plural China)

1. China (a country in East Asia)

• The plural China refers to the People's Republic of China (German: Volksrepublik China (short: VR China), Festlandchina (Mainland China), Rotchina (Red China)) and the Republic of China (German: Republik China (auf Taiwan), Inselchina, Taiwan).

• “China” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese and German China.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃiːna/
• Rhymes: -iːna
• Syllabification: Chi‧na

China n

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

   Das waar im China gemach. ― This was made in China.

China

1. nonstandard spelling of Cina

China

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

From Middle Persian [script needed] (ṣīn, “Chinese; porcelain”), probably from Sanskrit चीन (cīna). Attested in 1701 in Thomas Bowery's English-Malay and Malay-English bilingual dictionary.^[1]

The spelling is a carryover from the Za'aba Spelling used before 1972, to distinguish it from Cina (“Chinese people”).

• (Johor-Riau) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃinə/ [ˈt͡ʃi.nə], /ˈt͡ʃajna/ [ˈt͡ʃai̯.na]
  • Rhymes: -inə, -ai̯na

• (Baku) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃina/ [ˈt͡ʃi.na]
  • Rhymes: -ina, -a
• Hyphenation: Chi‧na

China (Jawi spelling چينا)

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

   Synonym: Tiongkok (Riau Malay, Indonesian)

• “China” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

• Shina (Gascony)

China f

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

• chinés

• Patric Guilhemjoan, Diccionari elementari occitan-francés francés-occitan (gascon), 2005, Orthez, per noste, 2005, →ISBN, page 146.

Perhaps from Venetan Cina probably under influence from Old French Chin, from Classical Persian چین (čīn) under influence from Medieval Latin Sina (“China”), from Middle Persian 𐭰𐭩𐭭 (Čīn, “China”), ultimately from Sanskrit चीन (cīna). Compare Malay Cina.

• Hyphenation: Chi‧na

China f (plural Chinas)

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)
   • 2007, Rubens Edwald Filho, Nilu Lebert, O cinema vai à mesa, Editora Melhoramentos, →ISBN, page 31:

     Mudam os ingredientes do caldo, mudam as massas. O macarrão soba é à base de trigo sarraceno e é servido quente ou gelado; o udon, de farinha branca, pode ser encontrado fresco ou seco; o sômen é bem fininho, quase um cabelo-de-anjo japonês; o harusame, para ser servido gelado, é uma massa feita de feijão-verde e, finalmente, existe o lamen, originário da China, porém muito difundido no Japão.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• → English: China
• → Hunsrik: China

Borrowed from Greek Κίνα (Kína), ultimately from Sanskrit चीन (cīna).

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈki.na/

China f

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

• chinez

• cinie

la China f

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

• chinais
• Chinais

From -china (“fourth”), counting the days of the working week from Monday.

China class 7

1. Thursday

• days of the week: mazuva evhiki (appendix): Svondo · Muvhuro · Chipiri · Chitatu · China · Chishanu · Mugovera/Chitanhatu (Zezuru) ^[edit]

Possibly from Venetan Cina, from Classical Persian چین (Čin, “China”) under influence from Medieval Latin Sina (“China”), from Middle Persian 𐭰𐭩𐭭 (Čīn, “China”), ultimately from Sanskrit चीन (cīna), ultimately possibly from Old Chinese 秦 (*zin).

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃina/ [ˈt͡ʃi.na]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ina
• Syllabification: Chi‧na

China f

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

• → Tagalog: Tsina

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

China

1. alternative form of Uchina