qin

English

Noun

qin (plural qins)

1. (music) seven-stringed classical Chinese zither that does not have a bridge, sometimes referred to as guqin where gu stands for ancient.
   • 1989, Zhongguo fu li hui, Chung-kuo fu li hui, China Reconstructs

     ... there was no longer anyone worth playing his qin for, so he broke his instrument and never played again. The guqin was also a means of expressing love.

   • 2006, Dana Standridge, Lessons in Essence: A Novel

     He makes his qin students take calligraphy with him, and calligraphy and painting students play the qin.

Mandarin

Romanization

qin

1. Nonstandard spelling of qīn.
2. Nonstandard spelling of qín.
3. Nonstandard spelling of qǐn.
4. Nonstandard spelling of qìn.

Usage notes

English transcriptions of Chinese speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Chinese language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.