China

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

From Portuguese China,^[1][2] probably under influence from Old French Chin,^[3] from Classical Persian چین (čīn), 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.

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

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

  • Audio (US, female voice):

    (file)

  • Audio (US, male voice):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪnə

China (usually uncountable, plural Chinas)

1. A nation or civilization occupying the country around the Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl Rivers in East Asia, taken as a whole under its various dynasties.
   • 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.

   • 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.

   • 1987, Geoffrey Marston, “Abandonment of Territorial Claims: The Cases of Bouvet and Spratly Islands”, in The British Year Book of International Law 1986‎^[4], volume 57, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 356:

     The Commissioner General asked for Foreign Office guidance in view of his information about earlier events relating to the British claim. In reply, the Foreign Office, in a telegram dated 12 June 1956, pointed out that as there was now a territorial dispute involving the two Chinas, the Philippines and possibly Vietnam over the Nansha Islands the British vessel should ‘stay well clear’ of Spratly Island.

   • 1998, George H. W. Bush et al., A World Transformed‎^[5], New York: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, page 93:

     After I was nominated to the vice-presidency, Ronald Reagan asked me to go to China to reassure Deng that, despite having mentioned it in a campaign speech, he did not believe in two Chinas, and that he would honor the Shanghai Communiqué—which declared, in effect, that there was but one China. Joined by his top foreign policy team, Deng listened carefully as I explained that Reagan’s statement had been taken out of context. Just as I was finishing, a door opened and a message was passed down the line of advisors until it reached Deng. On reading it, he looked puzzled and annoyed. “He did it again!” he announced. “Ronald Reagan has again referred to ‘two Chinas’ in a speech!” I talked fast and got out of there.

   China has 5000 years of history.

3. The principal state in this country, including (historical) an empire under various dynasties and (since 1949) the People's Republic of China.
   • 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 will be 73 years old this October 1.

4. Synonym of mainland China.

   The gambling winnings were transferred from Macau to China.

5. (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?'

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

• (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

• (provinces of China) province of China; Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Gansu, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hebei, Hainan, Heilongjiang, Hunan, Jilin, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Qinghai, Sichuan, Shandong, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Taiwan (claimed), Yunnan, Zhejiang

• Sino-

China (countable and uncountable, plural Chinas)

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

• (countries of Asia) country of Asia; Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, East Timor, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen
• Appendix:Countries of the world
• "Names of China" and "China in world languages" at Wikipedia

• “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)

China f

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

• chinu

China

1. China (a country in Asia)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃinaː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Chi‧na
• Rhymes: -inaː

China n

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

• Chinees

China f

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

• chinés

From Persian چینی (čini, “Chinese; porcelain”), compound of چین (čin, “China”) and the suffix ـی (-i), 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.

Unadapted borrowing from English China.

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɪna/

China

1. (nonstandard, now possibly derogatory) nonstandard form of Cina (“a country; language”).

China

1. China (a country in eastern Asia)

From Middle Persian [script needed] (ṣīn, “Chinese; porcelain”), probably from Sanskrit चीन (cīna). The spelling is a carryover from the Za'aba Spelling used before 1972, to distinguish it from Cina (“Chinese people”).

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃina/
  • (Johor-Riau) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃinə]
• Rhymes: -na, -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 Hindi चीन (cīn) and ultimately from Sanskrit चीन (cīna). Compare Malay Cina.

• Hyphenation: Chi‧na

China f

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; Muvhuro, Chipiri, Chitatu, China, Chishanu, Mugovera / Chitanhatu (Zezuru), Svondo ^{(Category: sn:Days of the week)}

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