China

From Portuguese China, perhaps from Hindi चीन (cīn) and ultimately from Sanskrit चीन (cīna, “the Chinese; China”) of uncertain etymology. It is usually thought to be derived from 秦 (Qín, “Qin, Middle Chinese: /d͡ziɪn/, Old Chinese: /*zin/”), the westernmost ancient Chinese state, but other theories have been proposed, including derivation from 晉／晋 (jìn, “Jin, Middle Chinese: /t͡siɪnH/, Old Chinese: /*ʔsins/”), 荊／荆 (jīng, “Jing”), or the Zina of 夜郎 (Yèláng, “Yelang”). See "Names of China" at Wikipedia.

Pronunciation

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

Proper noun

China (usually uncountable, plural Chinas)

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 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.
- 1884, Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
  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.
The People's Republic of China, the principal state in this country.
- 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
- 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.
Synonym of mainland China
from Macau to China
(obsolete) A Chinese person.
(obsolete) Alternative form of cheyney: woollen stuff; items made or filled with cheyney.
(botany) Clipping of China rose: various flowers.
(botany, beverages) Clipping of 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, 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, 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.

Synonyms

(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

Related terms

sinophobia

Translations

country in east Asia

Abkhaz: Чынҭ (Č̍ənt)
Adyghe: Китай (Kitāj)
Afrikaans: Sjina, China
Albanian: Kina (sq)
Amharic: ቻይና (čayna)
Arabic: اَلصِّين‎ (ar) f (aṣ-ṣīn)
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܨܝܢ‎ (Ṣīn), ܨܝܢܣܬܐܢ‎
Armenian: Չինաստան (hy) (Čʿinastan)
Old Armenian: Ճենք (Čenkʿ), Ճենաստան (Čenastan)
Assamese: চীনদেশ (sinodex), চীন (sin)
Asturian: China (ast) f
Azerbaijani: Çin (az)
Cyrillic: Чин
Bashkir: Ҡытай (Qïtay)
Basque: Txina
Bavarian: Kina
Belarusian: Кіта́й m (Kitáj)
Bengali: চীন (cīn), গণচীন (gôṇcīn)
Breton: Sina
Bulgarian: Кита́й (bg) m (Kitáj)
Burmese: တရုတ် (my) (ta.rut)
Buryat: Хитад (Xitad)
Catalan: Xina (ca) f
Chechen: Китай (Kitaj)
Cherokee: ᏥᎾ (tsina)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 中國 (yue), 中国 (zung¹ gwok³)
Taishanese: 中國 (yue), 中国 (zuung¹ gok²)

Dungan: Җунгуй (Žunguj), Җунгуә (Žunguə)

Gan: 中國, 中国 (zung1 guet6)

Hakka: 中國, 中国 (Chûng-koet)

Jin: 中國, 中国 (zung1 gueh4)

Mandarin: 中國 (zh), 中国 (zh) (Zhōngguó), 華 (zh), 华 (zh) (Huá) (abbreviation)

Min Bei: 中國, 中国 (Dô̤ng-gŏ)

Min Dong: 中國, 中国 (Dṳ̆ng-guók)

Min Nan: 中國 (zh-min-nan), 中国 (zh-min-nan) (Tiong-kok)
Teochew: 中國 (zh-min-nan), 中国 (zh-min-nan) (dong1 gog4)

Wu: 中國, 中国 (tson koq)

Xiang: 中國, 中国 (zhong1 gue6)
Czech: Čína (cs) f
Danish: Kina (da)
Dhivehi: ^{(please verify)} 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)
Hlai: Dongxgok
Hungarian: Kína (hu)
Hunsrik: China n
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)
Arabic: قىتاي‎, جۇڭگو‎
Khakas: Хыдат (Xıdat)
Khmer: ចិន (km) (cən)
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)
Latin: Sina f
Latvian: Ķīna (lv) f
Lezgi: Чин (Čin)
Lithuanian: Kinija (lt) f
Luhya: Chaina
Luo: Chaina
Lü: ᦷᦋᧂᧈ ᦷᦅᧉ (tsong¹ ko²), ᦙᦵᦲᧂᦠᦸᧉ (moengḣoa²)
Macedonian: Ки́на (mk) f (Kína)
Malagasy: Sina (mg)
Malay: Negara China, China, Cina
Malayalam: ചൈന (ml) (caina)
Maltese: iċ-Ċina f
Manchu: ᡩᡠᠯᡳᠮᠪᠠᡳ
ᡤᡠᡵᡠᠨ (dulimbai gurun)
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: Tsiiʼyishbizhí Dineʼé Bikéyah
Nepali: चीन (cīna)
Norman: Chène f (continental Normandy), Chaenne f (Guernsey), Chinne f (Jersey)
Norwegian: Kina (no)
Novial: China
Oriya: ଚୀନ (or) (cīnô), ଚାଇନା (caina)
Ossetian: Китай (Kitaj)
Palauan: Sina
Pashto: چين‎ (ps) m (čin), ختاي‎ m (xatãy)
Persian: چین‎ (fa) (čin)
Polish: Chiny (pl) pl
Portuguese: China (pt) f
Punjabi: ਚੀਨ (chīn)
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)
Santali: ᱪᱤᱱ (cin)
Scots: Cheenae
Scottish Gaelic: Sìona f, Sìna f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: Кина f

Roman: Kina (sh) f
Shor: Қыдат
Sichuan Yi: ꍏꇩ (Zho guop)
Sindhi: چين‎
Sinhalese: චීනය (cīnaya)
Slovak: Čína (sk) f
Slovene: Kitájska (sl) f
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: Chinska f

Upper Sorbian: China f
Southern Altai: Кыдат (Kıdat), кытай (kítay)
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)
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)
Cyrillic: Хитай (Xitay), Җуңго (Junggo)
Uzbek: Xitoy (uz)
Cyrillic: Хитой
Vietnamese: Trung Quốc (vi) (中國), Trung Hoa (vi), Tàu (vi)
Volapük: Tsyinän (vo)
Welsh: Tsieina (cy)
White Hmong: please add this translation if you can
Written Oirat: ᡍᡅᡐᠠᡑ (Kitad)
Yakut: Кытай (Kıtay)
Yiddish: כינע‎ f (khine)
Yoruba: Ṣáínà
Zhuang: Cungguek, Cunghgoz
Zulu: IShayina

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

Afrikaans: Sjina
Arabic: اَلصِّين‎ (ar) f (aṣ-ṣīn)
Armenian: Չինաստան (hy) (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)
Galician: China (gl) f
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: Tsiiʼyishbizhí 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)
Santali: ᱪᱤᱱ (cin)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: Кина f

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

civilization of the Chinese people

Afrikaans: Sjina
Arabic: اَلصِّين‎ (ar) 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)
Estonian: Hiina (et)
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) (čin)
Portuguese: China (pt) f
Russian: Кита́й (ru) m (Kitáj)
Santali: ᱪᱤᱱ (cin)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: Кина f

Roman: Kina (sh) f
Sindhi: چين‎
Slovene: Kitájska (sl) f
Swedish: Kina (sv)
Vietnamese: Trung Quốc (vi), Trung Hoa (vi), 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 Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

Breton: ^{(please verify)} Sina

Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} China (ia)

Gallery

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.

Anagrams

Chain, Chian, chain