China

From Latin China, from Persian ‎(Čini, “Chinese; porcelain”), compound of ‎(Čin, “China”) and the suffix ‎(-i, “-y, forming adjectives”), from Middle Persian 𐭰𐭩𐭭 ‎(Čīn, “China”), ultimately from Sanskrit चीन ‎(Cīna, “the Chinese; China”) of uncertain etymology. It is usually thought to be derived from Qin 秦 ‎(Qín), the westernmost ancient Chinese state, but other theories have been proposed, including derivation from Jin (晉), Jing (荊), or the Zina of Yelang (夜郎 ‎(Yèláng)). See "Names of China" at Wikipedia.

Pronunciation[edit]

(UK, US) enPR: chī'nə, IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃaɪnə/, [ˈt͡ʃ(ʰ)aɪ̯nə]
Audio (US)
(file)
Audio (US)
(file)
Rhymes: -aɪnə

Proper noun[edit]

China ‎(usually uncountable, plural Chinas)

A nation or civilization (中華) occupying the country around the Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl Rivers in East Asia, taken as a whole under its various dynasties and inclusive of Taiwan.
- 1555, Richard Eden translating Peter Martyr as The Decades of the Newe Worlde..., folio 230 verso:
  
  The great China, whose kyng is thought... the greatest prince in the worlde.
The principal state in this country (中國), internationally recognized as the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国) since the 1970s.
- 1971 December 6, "A Size-up of President Nixon: Interview with Mike Mansfield, Senate Democratic Leader", in US News & World Report, p. 61:
  
  'Only a Nixon' Could Go to China
(obsolete) A Chinese person.
(obsolete) Alternative form of cheyney: woollen stuff; items made or filled with cheyney.
(botany) Short for China rose: various flowers.
(botany, beverages) Short for China tea.
(rhyming slang) Alternative form of china: a mate, a friend.
(rare) A female given name.
- 2001, Susan Wittig Albert, Bloodroot, Berkley Publishing Group, ISBN 9780425188149, chapter 1, 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 978-1-47211-268-2, 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?'
Towns in Maine and Texas in the United States.
A town in Nuevo León in Mexico.

An 1844 map of China (i.e., the Qing Empire), including Taiwan, Mongolia, Korea, eastern 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.

Synonyms[edit]

(nation): Cathay (used for medieval northern China, now archaizing); Greater China (inclusive of Taiwan, non-Han autonomous regions, and the SARs, but not always all Chinese claims)
(state): Celestial Kingdom, Flowery Kingdom, Middle Kingdom
(principal states at different periods): Xia, Shang, Zhou (kingdoms); Qin, Han, Jin, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing (empires); Warring States, Three Kingdoms (regions); Republic of China or Chinese Republic, People's Republic of China or Chinese People's Republic
(civilization): Han; Han or Han Chinese civilization

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from China

Related terms[edit]

sinophobia

Translations[edit]

country in east Asia

Abkhaz: Чынҭ ‎(Č̍ənt)
Afrikaans: Sjina, China
Albanian: Kina (sq)
Amharic: ቻይና ‎(čayna)
Arabic: اَلصِّين f ‎(aṣ-ṣīn)
Armenian: Չինաստան ‎(Čʿinastan)
Asturian: China (ast) f
Azeri: Çin (az)

Cyrillic: Чин
Bashkir: Ҡытай ‎(Qïtay)
Basque: Txina
Bavarian: Kina
Belarusian: Кіта́й m ‎(Kitáj)
Bengali: চীন ‎(cin), গণচীন ‎(gôṇcin)
Bulgarian: Кита́й (bg) m ‎(Kitáj)
Burmese: တရုတ် (my) ‎(ta.rut), တရုတ်နိုင်ငံ ‎(ta.rutnuingngam)
Buryat: Хитад ‎(Xitad)
Catalan: Xina (ca) f
Chechen: Китай ‎(Kitaj)
Cherokee: ᏥᎾ ‎(tsina)
Chinese:

Cantonese: 中國, 中国 ‎(zung¹ gwok³)

Hakka: 中國, 中国 ‎(Chûng-koet)

Mandarin: 中國 (zh), 中国 (zh) ‎(Zhōngguó)

Min Dong: 中國, 中国 ‎(Dṳ̆ng-guók)

Min Nan: 中國 (zh-min-nan), 中国 (zh-min-nan) ‎(Tiong-kok)

Wu: 中國, 中国 ‎(tson koq)
Czech: Čína (cs) f
Danish: Kina (da)
Dhivehi: ޗައިނާ ‎(cainā), ސީނުކަރަ ‎(sīnukara)
Dutch: China (nl) n
Dzongkha: རྒྱ་ནག ‎(rgya nag), རྒྱ་མི ‎(rgya mi)
Erzya: Китай ‎(Kitaj)
Esperanto: Ĉinio, Ĉinujo, Ĥinujo
Estonian: Hiina (et)
Faroese: Kina n
Finnish: Kiina (fi)
French: Chine (fr) f
Galician: China (gl) f
Georgian: ჩინეთი ‎(čineti)
German: China (de) n
Greek: Κίνα (el) f ‎(Kína)
Gujarati: ચીન ‎(cīn)
Hausa: Sin
Hawaiian: Kina
Hebrew: סִין (he) f ‎(sin)
Hindi: चीन (hi) m ‎(cīn)
Hungarian: Kína (hu)
Icelandic: Kína (is) n
Ido: Chinia (io)
Indonesian: Cina (id), China (id), Tiongkok (id)
Interlingua: China (ia)
Interlingue: China
Irish: An tSín, Daon-Phoblacht na Síne f
Italian: Cina (it) f
Japanese: 中国 (ja) ‎(ちゅうごく, Chūgoku)
Kalenjin: Chaina
Kalmyk: Китд ‎(Kitd)
Kamba: Chaina
Kannada: ಚೀನಾ ‎(cīnā), ಚೀನ (kn) ‎(cīna)
Karachay-Balkar: Къытай
Kashmiri: चीन ‎(cīn)
Kazakh: Қытай ‎(Qıtay), Жұңго ‎(Juñgo)
Khmer: ចិន (km) ‎(chən)
Kikuyu: Chaina
Komi-Permyak: Кина ‎(Kina)
Komi-Zyrian: Китай ‎(Kitaj)
Korean: 중국 ‎(Jungguk) (中國 (ko))
Kurdish:

Kurmanji: Çîn (ku)

Sorani: چین ‎(çîn)
Kyrgyz: Кытай (ky) ‎(Kıtay), Жуңго ‎(Cuñgo)
Lao: ຈີນ (lo) ‎(chīn), ປະເທດຈີນ ‎(pa thēt chīn)
Latin: Sina f
Latvian: Ķīna (lv) f
Lezgi: Чин ‎(Čin)
Lithuanian: Kinija (lt) f
Lojban: djunguos

Luhya: Chaina
Luo: Chaina
Lü: ᦷᦋᧂᧈ ᦷᦅᧉ ‎(tsong¹ ko²), ᦙᦵᦲᧂᦠᦸᧉ ‎(meiingḣoa²)
Macedonian: Ки́на (mk) f ‎(Kína)
Malagasy: Sina (mg)
Malay: Negara China, China, Cina
Malayalam: ചൈന (ml) ‎(caina)
Maltese: iċ-Ċina f
Maori: Haina
Marathi: चीन ‎(cīn)
Meru: Chaina
Middle Persian: 𐭰𐭩𐭭 ‎(čīn)
Mirandese: China f
Moksha: Китай ‎(Kitaj)
Mongolian: Хятад (mn) ‎(Hjatad), Дундад улс ‎(Dundad uls)

Uyghurjin: (Inner Mongolia) ᠬᠢᠲᠠᠳ ‎(qitad), ᠳᠤᠮᠳᠠᠳᠤ ᠤᠯᠤᠰ ‎(dumdadu ulus)
Navajo: Tsiiʼyiishbizhí Dineʼé Bikéyah
Nepali: चीन ‎(cīna)
Norman: Chène f (continental Normandy), Chaenne f (Guernsey), Chinne f (Jersey)
Norwegian: Kina (no)
Novial: China
Oriya: ଚୀନ (or) ‎(čīn)
Ossetian: Китай ‎(Kitaj)
Palauan: Sina
Pashto: چين (ps) ‎(čīn), ختاي ‎(ḫatāy)
Persian: چین (fa) ‎(čin)
Polish: Chiny (pl) pl
Portuguese: China (pt) f
Punjabi: ਚੀਨ ‎(cīn)
Rade: Khê̆č
Romanian: China (ro) f
Russian: Кита́й (ru) m ‎(Kitáj), (poetic) Поднебе́сная (ru) f ‎(Podnebésnaja), Среди́нное Ца́рство n ‎(Sredínnoje Cárstvo) (Middle Kingdom)
Rusyn: Кіта́й m ‎(Kitáj), Чі́на f ‎(Čína)
Sanskrit: चीन (sa) m ‎(cīna)
Scots: Cheenae
Scottish Gaelic: Sìona f, Sìna f
Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic: Кина f

Roman: Kina (sh) f
Sinhalese: චීනය ‎(cīnaya)
Slovak: Čína (sk) f
Slovene: Kitájska (sl) f
Sorbian:

Lower Sorbian: Chinska f

Upper Sorbian: China f
Southern Altai: Кыдат ‎(Kıdat)
Spanish: China (es) f
Swahili: Uchina, China
Swedish: Kina (sv)
Tagalog: Tsina
Tajik: Чин (tg) ‎(Čin), Хитой (tg) ‎(Xitoy)
Tamil: சீனா (ta) ‎(cīṉā)
Tangsa: Khe mung
Tatar: Кытай ‎(Qıtay)
Telugu: చైనా (te) ‎(cainā)
Thai: จีน (th) ‎(jiin), ประเทศจีน (th) ‎(bprà-têet jiin)
Tibetan: རྒྱ་ནག ‎(rgya nag), ཀྲུང་གོ ‎(krung go)
Turkish: Çin (tr)
Turkmen: Hytaý, Çin (tk)

Cyrillic: Хытай, Чин
Tuvan: Кыдат ‎(Kıdat)
Udmurt: Китай ‎(Kitaj)
Ukrainian: Кита́й (uk) m ‎(Kytáj)
Urdu: چین m ‎(cīn)
Uyghur: خىتاي ‎(xitay), جۇڭگو ‎(junggo)
Uzbek: Xitoy (uz)

Cyrillic: Хитой
Vietnamese: Trung Quốc (vi) (中國), Trung Hoa, Tàu (vi)
Volapük: Tsyinän (vo)
Welsh: Tsieina (cy)
Yakut: Кытай ‎(Kıtay)
Yiddish: כינע f ‎(khine)
Yoruba: Ṣaina
Zhuang: Cungguek, Cunghgoz
Zulu: IShayina

region corresponding to the People's Republic of China and Taiwan

Afrikaans: Sjina
Arabic: اَلصِّين f ‎(aṣ-ṣīn)
Armenian: Չինաստան ‎(Čʿinastan)
Basque: Txina
Catalan: Xina (ca) f
Chinese:

Mandarin: 中國 (zh), 中国 (zh) ‎(Zhōngguó)
Danish: Kina (da)
Estonian: Hiina (et)
Finnish: Kiina (fi)
Hawaiian: Kina
Hindi: चीन (hi) ‎(cīn)
Indonesian: Tiongkok (id)
Irish: An tSín f
Japanese: 中国 (ja) ‎(ちゅうごく, Chūgoku)
Khmer: ចិន (km) ‎(jen)
Korean: 중국 ‎(Jungguk) (中國 (ko))
Kurdish:

Kurmanji: Çîn (ku)

Sorani: چین ‎(çîn)

Macedonian: Кина (mk) f ‎(Kina)
Malay: China
Marathi: चीन ‎(cīn)
Navajo: Tsiiʼyiishbizhí Dineʼé Bikéyah
Norwegian: Kina (no)
Persian: چین (fa) ‎(čin)
Polish: Chiny (pl) pl
Portuguese: China (pt) f
Romanian: China (ro) f
Russian: Кита́й (ru) m ‎(Kitáj)
Sanskrit: चीन (sa) ‎(cīna)
Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic: Кина f

Roman: Kina (sh) f
Slovene: Kitájska (sl) f
Somali: Shiinaha
Swedish: Kina (sv)
Urdu: چین ‎(čīn)
Vietnamese: Trung Quốc (vi) (中國), Trung Hoa, Tàu (vi)

civilization of the Chinese people

Afrikaans: Sjina
Arabic: اَلصِّين f ‎(aṣ-ṣīn)
Catalan: Xina (ca) f
Chinese:

Mandarin: 中華文明, 中华文明 ‎(Zhōnghuá wénmíng), 華夏 (zh), 华夏 (zh) ‎(Huáxià), 諸夏 (zh), 诸夏 (zh) ‎(zhūxià)
Danish: Kina (da)
Finnish: Kiina (fi)
Indonesian: Tiongkok (id)
Irish: An tSín f
Khmer: ចិន (km) ‎(jen)
Korean: 중국문명 ‎(junggungmunmyeong) 中華文明
Macedonian: Кина (mk) f ‎(Kina)

Malay: Cina
Persian: چین (fa) ‎(čīn)
Portuguese: China (pt) f
Russian: Кита́й (ru) m ‎(Kitáj)
Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic: Кина f

Roman: Kina (sh) f
Slovene: Kitájska (sl) f
Swedish: Kina (sv)
Vietnamese: Trung Quốc (vi), Trung Hoa, Tàu (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Breton: ^{(please verify)} Sina
Dhivehi: ^{(please verify)} ސީނުކަރަ ‎(sīnukara)

Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} China

Anagrams[edit]

chain