# china

Pronunciation: say "CHY-nuh" /ˈt͡ʃaɪnə/

## Proper noun · China

1. A large country in East Asia around the Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl Rivers, since 1949 the People's Republic of China.
   - Simple: A large country in East Asia. Since 1949 it has been the People's Republic of China.
   - _The president flew to China for two days of trade talks._
   - _Exports to China fell sharply after the new tariffs took effect._
4. The cultural region and civilization of East Asia around the Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl Rivers, taken as a whole across its many dynasties.
   - Simple: The culture and land in East Asia around three big rivers, seen as a whole across all its ruling families.
   - _The course follows the history of China from its first dynasties to the twentieth century._
   - _The exhibit gathers bronzes, scrolls, and porcelain from three thousand years of China's past._
5. Mainland China, as distinct from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
   - Simple: The part of China on the Asian mainland, not counting Hong Kong and Macau.
   - _Residents of Hong Kong need a separate permit to travel into China._
   - _The company has offices in Taipei and Macau but builds its products in China._
6. Any of the empires that held roughly the territory of modern China under successive dynasties, up to the early 20th century.
   - Simple: Any of the old empires that ruled the land of today's China, up until the early 1900s.
   - _The envoys spent months on the road before they reached the court of China._
   - _The last emperor of China gave up the throne when he was still a small boy._
7. The Republic of China before 1949, and sometimes afterward, especially until the early 1970s, when the People's Republic of China took over China's seat at the United Nations.
   - Simple: The Republic of China before 1949. Some people kept using the name for it until the early 1970s.
   - _China fought alongside the Allies through the Second World War._
   - _Through the 1950s, Washington recognized the government in Taipei as China._
8. The single Chinese nation, as in the phrase one China, which asserts that there is only one de jure Chinese nation.
   - Simple: The single Chinese nation in the idea of one China, which says that by law there is only one.
   - _The new ambassador's first speech affirmed her country's support for one China._
   - _For decades, officials on both sides of the strait insisted on one China while disputing which government spoke for it._

## Noun

2. Plates, cups, bowls, and other tableware made of porcelain.
   - Simple: Plates, cups, and bowls made of a fine, hard, white kind of baked clay.
   - _They registered for a full set of wedding china._
   - _The movers wrapped every piece of china in newspaper before packing the boxes._
3. Porcelain, the hard, white, translucent ceramic made from kaolin; chiefly in the US, porcelain tableware is now sometimes called fine or good china.
   - Simple: Another name for porcelain, a hard, white material made from fine clay that lets a little light through.
   - _She collects china figurines made in the 1920s._
   - _Hold the bowl up to a lamp and you can see light glowing through the thin china._
9. A friend or mate, from rhyming slang in which china plate stands for mate. *(dialectal, Australia, Cockney, South Africa)*
   - Simple: A friend or mate. It comes from slang in which china plate rhymes with mate.
   - _Cheers, me old china. I owe you a pint for that._
   - _My china and I drove up the coast for the long weekend._
10. A drum cymbal made in the style of a Chinese cymbal, though usually with Turkish influences.
   - Simple: A kind of cymbal on a drum set, made in a style that comes from Chinese cymbals.
   - _He mounts a small china upside down just above the hi-hat._
   - _Metal drummers often use chinas for harsh, trashy accents._
11. Short for China rose, in any of the senses of that name, which covers several different flowers.
   - Simple: A short name for China rose, which is used for several kinds of flower.
   - _Among the old roses in the bed, a crimson China stood out._
   - _Rose growers value the Chinas for flowering again and again through the season._
12. The root of Smilax china, also called China root, especially as used in medicine.
   - Simple: The root of a plant called Smilax china, mostly used as a medicine.
   - _The apothecary's shelves held senna, rhubarb, and dried china for his patients._
   - _His physician prescribed a decoction of china to be taken each morning._

## Noun

13. Cheaper, lower-quality ceramic and ceramic tableware, as distinct from porcelain. *(dated, US)*
   - Simple: Cheaper, lower-quality pottery and dishes that are not porcelain.
   - _The boarding house set its tables with cheap, heavy china and saved its one porcelain set for Sunday._
   - _The catalog offered everyday china at a dime a plate and porcelain at three times the price._
14. Tea from China, especially smoke-cured kinds or Chinese varieties as opposed to Indian ones. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Tea from China, especially the smoky kinds, or kinds that are different from Indian tea.
   - _The grocer weighed out a quarter pound of China and the same of Assam._
   - _She preferred a smoky China to the brisk Indian teas her husband drank._
15. Cheyney, a worsted or woolen fabric, or things made of it or filled with it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A kind of wool cloth, or things made of it or stuffed with it.
16. A glazed marble made of china, for playing games of marbles. *(obsolete, US)*
   - Simple: A shiny, glazed marble made of china, used in games of marbles.
   - _He knuckled down and shot his china straight into the ring._
   - _The boys would trade three clay marbles for one good china._

## Noun · China

17. A Chinese person. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A person who is Chinese.

## Other meanings

- (proper noun) A US town in Maine’s Kennebec County.
- (proper noun) A small city in the United States, located in Jefferson County, Texas.
- (proper noun) A municipality and town in the state of Nuevo León, Mexico.
- (proper noun) A community in Jefferson County, Indiana, in the United States, that has no municipal government of its own.
- (proper noun) A community in Howell County, Missouri, in the United States, that has no municipal government of its own.
- (proper noun) A hamlet, or small unincorporated settlement, in Delaware County in the state of New York.
- (proper noun) A town in Japan, part of Kagoshima Prefecture.
- (proper noun) A female given name.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 4–8, 17** — From Portuguese China, possibly via Venetan Cina and influenced by Old French Chin, from Classical Persian čīn and Middle Persian Čīn, from Sanskrit cīna ("the Chinese; China"), whose origin is uncertain. It is usually thought to come from Qín, the westernmost ancient Chinese state, though other sources have been proposed, such as the ancient states of Jin and Chu, or Zina, the name the Yelang people used for themselves. As a female name, it usually comes via china ("porcelain") and china doll.
**Meanings 2–3, 9–14, 16** — Named after China, the country. Porcelain was called china from chinaware and Persian čīnī; other senses shorten China root, China rose, China tea and China cymbal, and "mate" comes from Cockney rhyming slang china plate.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/china (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).