china

See also: China and čhína

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tʃʌɪnə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪnə

Etymology 1

After the country China.

Noun

china (countable and uncountable, plural chinas)

1. (uncountable) The root of a climbing plant, Smilax china L., once believed to have important medicinal properties.
   • 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Printed by Iohn Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 216894069; The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd corrected and augmented edition, Oxford: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, 1624, OCLC 54573970, partition II, section 5, member 1, subsection v:

     China, saith Manardus, makes a good colour in the face, takes away melancholy, and all infirmities proceeding from cold […].

2. (uncountable) Ceramic or porcelain.
3. (uncountable) Tableware made from china.
4. (countable, music) A cymbal, flattened at the perimeter, about 16 to 20 inches (40 to 50 centimetres) across, that is ridden or crashed to produce a distinctive "trashy" sound.
5. A glazed china marble in children's games.

Derived terms

• bone china

Translations

porcelain

• Albanian: porcelan (sq)
• Arabic: خَزَف‎ m (ḵazaf)
• Bulgarian: порцелан m (porcelan)
• Catalan: porcellana (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 瓷器 (zh) (cíqì)

• Czech: porcelán m
• Danish: porcelæn (da)
• Estonian: portselan
• Faroese: postalín n
• Finnish: posliini (fi)
• French: porcelaine (fr) n
• Galician: louza f
• German: chinesisches Porzellan (de) n
• Hebrew: חרסינה‎ (he) f (kharsina)
• Italian: porcellana (it) f

• Japanese: 磁器 (ja) (じき, jiki)
• Macedonian: порцела́н m (porcelán)
• Norman: porcélaine f (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: porselen n

  Nynorsk: porselen n

• Portuguese: porcelana (pt) f
• Russian: фарфо́р (ru) m (farfór)
• Scots: cheenae
• Slovak: porcelán m
• Slovene: porcelan (sl) m
• Spanish: loza (es) f
• Swedish: porslin (sv) n
• Tagalog: pamantingin
• Thai: เครื่องลายคราม (krʉ̂ʉang-laai-kraam)
• Vietnamese: sứ (vi), đồ sứ

tableware made from china

• Albanian: bilur (sq)
• Estonian: portselan
• Finnish: posliiniastia, posliiniastiasto
• Japanese: 磁器 (ja) (じき, jiki)

• Norman: vaisselle dé porcélaine f (Jersey)
• Portuguese: louça (pt) f
• Scots: cheenae
• Swedish: porslin (sv) n

cymbal

• Japanese: チャイナシンバル (chaina shinbaru)

Etymology 2

From china plate.

Noun

china (plural chinas)

1. (Cockney rhyming slang, Australia, South Africa, countable) Mate (i.e., friend).

   All right, me old china?

Translations

Cockney rhyming slang: mate — see mate

Anagrams

• Chain, Chian, chain

---

French

Verb

china

1. third-person singular past historic of chiner

Anagrams

• nicha

---

Italian

Etymology 1

Adjective form.

Adjective

china f sg

1. Feminine singular of adjective chino.

Etymology 2

From the verb chinare.

Noun

china f (plural chine)

1. slope, decline, descent

   Synonyms: pendio, declivio, discesa

Related terms

Terms related to china

• chinare

• chinato

• chinato

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Spanish quina, quinaquina, from Quechua.

Noun

china f (plural chine)

1. cinchona (tree)

Related terms

Terms related to china

• chinidina

• chinina

Etymology 4

From Portuguese China, namely "ink of China".

Noun

china f (plural chine)

1. Indian ink

Etymology 5

Verb form.

Verb

china

1. third-person singular present of chinare
2. second-person singular imperative of chinare

---

Japanese

Romanization

china

1. Rōmaji transcription of ちな

---

Kalasha

Adjective

china

1. Alternative spelling of čhína

---

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʃi.nɐ/
• Homophone: China

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish china, from Quechua china (“female”).

Noun

china f (plural chinas)

1. (Rio Grande do Sul) a woman, especially one of Native American descent

Etymology 2

From China.

Noun

china m, f (plural chinas)

1. (dated or informal) Chinaman; Chinese; someone from China

   Synonym: chinês

---

Spanish

Etymology 1

From the infantile/nursery word chin, a children's guessing game.

Noun

china f (plural chinas)

1. Pebble, small stone usually rounded

Related terms

• chin

Etymology 2

Adjective

china

1. Feminine singular of adjective chino.

Noun

china f (plural chinas, masculine chino, masculine plural chinos)

1. A Chinese woman.

See also

• tinta china

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Quechua china (“female”).

Noun

china f (plural chinas)

1. (derogatory, South America) female servant in a hacienda.

Etymology 4

Allusion to the orange fruit's Asian origin (as in sinensis in Citrus sinensis).

Noun

china f (plural chinas)

1. (Puerto Rico) orange (fruit)