Etymology
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From Latin āsiānus.
The popular definition referring to East and Southeast Asians collectively seems to be a shortened form of "Asian American", a term whose origins activists and academics trace back to 1968 and University of California, Berkeley (UCLA) students Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee, who, inspired by the Black Power Movement and the protests against the Vietnam War, founded the "Asian American Political Alliance" as a way to unite Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino American students on campus. It replaced the term "Mongoloid", but still continued the racial grouping of "Mongoloid". South Asians are also sometimes called "Asian" in the English settler colonies (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) but rarely (if ever) Near Easterners and Central Asians.
The British term exclusively referring to South Asians was due to South Asians making up a majority of immigrants from the continent of Asia in the United Kingdom.
Pronunciation
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Asian (plural Asians)
- A person from the continent of Asia, or a descendant thereof - especially:
- (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, also International English on the Internet) A person from or with ancestry in East or Southeast Asia, occasionally South Asia.
- (UK, Ireland, South Africa) A person from or with ancestry in South Asia.
1987 May, Paul Oliver, “Movie Mahal: Indian cinema on ITV Channel 4”, in Popular Music, →DOI, page 215:If radio and television programmes are anything to go by, Asians in Britain get up early on a Sunday.
2013, Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala:Were there Taliban beheading people? I didn't tell my parents, but I flinched if an Asian-looking man came close.
- A domestic cat of a breed similar to the Burmese.
Usage notes
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The American usage of "Asian" (East, Southeast, sometimes South Asian) is internationally used outside of English (e.g. in Turkish, German, Swedish, Korean, French, etc.).
Synonyms
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Translations
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person from Asia
- Afrikaans: Asiaat
- Arabic: آسِيَوِيّ m (ʔāsiyawiyy), آسِيَوِيَّة f (ʔāsiyawiyya)
- Armenian: ասիացի (asiacʿi)
- Azerbaijani: asiyalı
- Belarusian: азія́т m (aziját), азія́тка f (azijátka)
- Bikol Central: Asyano
- Breton: Aziad (br) m, Aziadez (br) f
- Bulgarian: азиа́тец (bg) m (aziátec), азиа́тка f (aziátka)
- Catalan: asiàtic (ca) m, asiàtica (ca) f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: (in a general sense) 亞洲人/亚洲人 (zh) (Yàzhōurén), (of Asian ethnicity) 亞裔/亚裔 (zh) (yàyì)
- Czech: Asijec (cs) m, Asijka (cs) f
- Danish: asiat (da) c
- Dutch: Aziaat (nl) m, Azische f
- Esperanto: aziano
- Estonian: aasialane (et)
- Finnish: aasialainen (fi)
- French: Asiatique (fr) m or f
- Galician: asiático (gl) m, asiática f
- Georgian: აზიელი (azieli)
- German: Asiate (de) m, Asiat (de) m, Asiatin (de) f (female)
- Greek: Ασιάτης (el) m (Asiátis), Ασιάτισσα (el) f (Asiátissa)
- Hawaiian: ʻĀkia
- Hindi: एशियाई (hi) (eśiyāī)
- Hungarian: ázsiai (hu)
- Ingush: азхо (azxo)
- Inupiaq: Inupiaŋuaq
- Irish: Áiseach m
- Italian: asiatico (it) m, asiatica (it) f
- Japanese: アジア人 (アジアじん, ajiajin)
- Kashubian: Azjata m, Azjatka f
- Kazakh: азиялық (aziälyq)
- Korean: 동양인(東洋人) (ko) (dong'yang'in), 아시아인 (ko) (asiain)
- Kyrgyz: азиялык (aziyalık)
- Lao: ຄົນອາຊີ (khonʼā sī)
- Latvian: aziāts m, aziāte f
- Lithuanian: azijietis (lt) m, azijietė (lt) f
- Macedonian: Азиец m (Aziec), Азијка f (Azijka)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: asiat (no) m
- Polish: Azjata (pl), Azjatka (pl) f
- Portuguese: asiático (pt) m, asiática f
- Romanian: asiatic (ro) m, asiatică (ro) f
- Russian: азиа́т (ru) m (aziát), азиа́тка (ru) f (aziátka)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: Ази́јац m, А̑зӣјка f
- Roman: Azíjac (sh) m, Ȃzījka f
- Slovak: Ázijec m, Ázijka f
- Slovene: aziat m, azijka f
- Spanish: asiático (es) m, asiática (es) f
- Swedish: asiat (sv) c
- Tagalog: Asyano (tl)
- Tajik: осиёӣ (tg) (osiyoyī)
- Telugu: ఆసియను (āsiyanu)
- Thai: คนเอเชีย (kon ee-chiia)
- Turkish: Asyalı (tr)
- Ukrainian: азі́єць (uk) m (azíjecʹ), азі́йка f (azíjka), азіа́т (uk) m (aziát), азіа́тка (uk) f (aziátka)
- Uzbek: osiyolik (uz)
- Vietnamese: người châu Á, người Á châu (dated)
- Volapük: Siyopan (vo)
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person from or descended from people from the Indian sub-continent
- Afrikaans: Asiër
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 南亞裔/南亚裔 (nányàyì)
- Dutch: Aziaat (nl) m, Azische f, Indiër (nl) m, Indische (nl) f
- Finnish: intialainen (fi)
- French: asiatique (fr) m or f
- Hungarian: ázsiai (hu), indiai (hu), dél-ázsiai
- Italian: asiatico (it) m, asiatica (it) f
- Japanese: 南アジア人 (みなみアジアじん, minami ajiajin)
- Korean: 남아시아인 (namasiain)
- Portuguese: asiático (pt) m, asiática f
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Roman: Azíjac (sh) m, Ȃzījka f
- Spanish: hindú (es) c, indio (es) m
- Swedish: indier (sv) c
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person from or descended from people from east Asia
Adjective
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Asian (not comparable)
- Of, relating to or from Asia.
2015 June 4, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, “The beauty contest winner making Japan look at itself”, in BBC[1]:There are white, black, Asian and Chinese Britons
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Related terms
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Translations
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of, relating to or from Asia
- Albanian: aziatik (sq)
- Arabic: آسِيَوِيّ (ʔāsiyawiyy)
- Armenian: ասիական (asiakan)
- Azerbaijani: asiyalı
- Belarusian: азія́цкі (azijácki)
- Bengali: এশিয়ান (eśiẏan)
- Bulgarian: азиа́тски (aziátski)
- Burmese: အာရှ (my) (ahra.)
- Catalan: asiàtic (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 亞洲的/亚洲的 (zh) (Yàzhōu de, Yǎzhōu de)
- Czech: asijský (cs)
- Danish: asiatisk
- Dutch: Aziatisch (nl)
- Estonian: aasia (et)
- Finnish: aasialainen (fi)
- French: asiatique (fr)
- Galician: asiático (gl)
- Georgian: აზიური (aziuri)
- German: asiatisch (de)
- Greek: ασιατικός (el) (asiatikós), ασιάτικος (el) (asiátikos)
- Ancient Greek: Ἀσιατικός (Asiatikós)
- Hawaiian: ʻĀkia
- Hebrew: אַסְיָתִי (asyáti)
- Hindi: एशियाई (hi) (eśiyāī)
- Hungarian: ázsiai (hu)
- Icelandic: asískur
- Irish: Áiseach
- Italian: asiatico (it)
- Japanese: アジアの (ja) (アジアの, Ajia no)
- Kashubian: azjacczi, azjatny
- Kazakh: азиялық (aziälyq)
- Khmer: អាស៊ី (km) (ʼaazii)
- Korean: 아시아의 (ko) (asia-ui)
- Kurdish:
- Northern Kurdish: asyayî (ku)
- Kyrgyz: азиялык (aziyalık)
- Lao: ອາຊີ (lo) (ʼā sī)
- Latvian: Āzijas, aziāšu, aziātisks
- Lithuanian: Azijos (lt), azijiečių
- Macedonian: азиски (aziski)
- Malay: Asia (ms)
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: азийн (aziin), ази (azi)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: asiatisk
- Nynorsk: asiatisk (nn)
- Pashto: آسیايي (āsyāyí)
- Persian: آسیایی (fa) (âsiyâyi)
- Polish: azjatycki (pl)
- Portuguese: asiático (pt)
- Romanian: asiatic (ro)
- Russian: азиа́тский (ru) (aziátskij)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: а̑зӣјскӣ
- Roman: ȃzījskī (sh)
- Slovak: ázijský (sk)
- Slovene: azijski (sl)
- Spanish: asiático (es)
- Swedish: asiatisk (sv)
- Tagalog: Asyahin
- Tajik: осиёӣ (tg) (osiyoyī)
- Telugu: ఆసియను (āsiyanu)
- Thai: เอเชีย (th) (ee-chiia)
- Turkish: asyalı
- Turkmen: aziýaly
- Ukrainian: азі́йський (uk) (azíjsʹkyj), азіа́тський (uk) (aziátsʹkyj)
- Urdu: ایشیائی (eśiyāī)
- Uyghur: ئاسىيالىق (asiyaliq)
- Uzbek: osiyolik (uz)
- Vietnamese: châu Á (vi), Á châu (vi) (dated)
- Volapük: Siyopik (vo)
- Yiddish: אַזיאַטיש (azyatish)
- Zhuang: Yacouh
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Anagrams
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