Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


China

Chi′na

,
Noun.
1.
A country in Eastern Asia.
2.
China ware, which is the modern popular term for porcelain. See
Porcelain
.
China aster
(Bot.)
,
a well-known garden flower and plant. See
Aster
.
China bean
.
See under
Bean
, 1.
China clay
See
Kaolin
.
China grass
,
Same as
Ramie
.
China ink
.
See
India ink
.
China pink
(Bot.)
,
an anual or biennial species of
Dianthus
(
Dianthus Chiensis
) having variously colored single or double flowers; Indian pink.
China root
(Med.)
,
the rootstock of a species of
Smilax
(
Smilax China
, from the East Indies; – formerly much esteemed for the purposes that sarsaparilla is now used for. Also the galanga root (from
Alpinia Gallanga
and
Alpinia officinarum
).
China rose
.
(Bot.)
(a)
A popular name for several free-blooming varieties of rose derived from the
Rosa Indica
, and perhaps other species.
(b)
A flowering hothouse plant (
Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis
) of the Mallow family, common in the gardens of China and the east Indies.
China shop
,
a shop or store for the sale of China ware or of crockery.
Pride of China
,
China tree
.
(Bot.)

Webster 1828 Edition


China

CHINA

,
Noun.
A species of earthern ware made in China, and so called from the country; called also china ware and porcelain. [See Porcelain.]

Definition 2024


China

China

See also: china and čhína

English

A reconstruction of the extent of various Chinese realms since the Zhou.

Alternative forms

Proper noun

China (usually uncountable, plural Chinas)

  1. 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.
  2. 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
  3. (obsolete) A Chinese person.
  4. (obsolete) Alternative form of cheyney: woollen stuff; items made or filled with cheyney.
  5. (botany) Short for China rose: various flowers.
  6. (botany, beverages) Short for China tea.
  7. (rhyming slang) Alternative form of china: a mate, a friend.
  8. (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?'
  9. Towns in Maine and Texas in the United States.
  10. A town in Nuevo León in Mexico.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

Anagrams


Afrikaans

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Dutch China.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈʃi.na]

Proper noun

China

  1. China

Asturian

Proper noun

China f

  1. China (country in east Asia)

Related terms


Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʃinaː/

Proper noun

China n

  1. China (country)

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈçiːna/, /ˈʃiːna/
  • (southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland) IPA(key): /ˈkiːna/

Proper noun

China n (genitive Chinas, plural China)

  1. China (country)

Usage notes

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

Indonesian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃaɪ̯nə/

Proper noun

China

  1. (nonstandard, now possibly derogatory) China (country)
  2. (nonstandard, now possibly derogatory) Chinese (language)

Alternative forms

Usage notes

In Indonesia, this term is still also in common use, but (as of March 2014) it is rarely used by most Indonesian-language media and is no longer used by the Indonesian Government because of the extremely offensive nature of the standard form Cina.

Derived terms

  • bahasa China

See also


Interlingua

Proper noun

China

  1. China (country)

Malay

Etymology

From English China, from Middle Persian [script needed] (ṣīn, Chinese; porcelain), probably from Sanskrit चीन (cīna, a people of south-eastern Tibet).

Pronunciation

Proper noun

China

  1. China (country)
  2. Chinese (language)

Alternative forms


Portuguese

bandeira da China

Etymology

From Persian چین (čīn, China), from Middle Persian 𐭰𐭩𐭭 (čīn, China), ultimately from Sanskrit चीन (cīna).

Pronunciation

Proper noun

China f

  1. China (a country of Asia)

Quotations

For usage examples of this term, see Citations:China.


Romanian

Pronunciation

Proper noun

China f

  1. China (country)

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈtʃina/

Proper noun

China f

  1. China (country)

Related terms


Swahili

Proper noun

China

  1. Alternative form of Uchina

china

china

See also: China and čhína

English

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.
  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
Translations

Etymology 2

From china plate.

Noun

china (plural chinas)

  1. (Cockney rhyming slang, Australian rhyming slang, countable) Mate (i.e., friend).
    All right, me old china?
Translations

Anagrams


French

Verb

china

  1. third-person singular past historic of chiner

Anagrams


Italian

Adjective

china

  1. feminine singular of chino

Noun

china f (plural chine)

  1. slope, decline, descent
  2. cinchona (tree)
  3. Indian ink

Synonyms

Related terms

Verb

china

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

Japanese

Romanization

china

  1. rōmaji reading of ちな

Kalasha

Adjective

china

  1. Alternative spelling of čhína

Spanish

Etymology 1

Noun

china f (plural chinas)

  1. Pebble, small stone usually rounded

Etymology 2

Adjective

china

  1. feminine singular of chino

Noun

china f (plural chinas, masculine chino)

  1. A Chinese woman.

See also

Etymology 3

From Quechua china (female).

Noun

china f (plural chinas)

  1. (pejorative, 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)