Sinae

See also: sinä

English

Etymology

From Latin Sinae, from Ancient Greek Σῖναι (Sînai), q.v. Equivalent to Sino- +‎ -ae.

Proper noun

Sinae

1. (historical) Synonym of Chinese or Southern Chinese, chiefly in the context of ancient Greco-Roman knowledge of China.
   • 1773, Alexander MacBean, A Dictionary of Ancient Geography..., s.v. "Sinae":

     ... the outmoſt people to the eaſt, next the Sinus Magnus, and inclining to the ſouth, not to be blended with the Chineſe... Beyond the Sinae to the eaſt, and ſouth was a terra incognita... Iſ. Voſſius takes the Sinae to be the Siameſe; becauſe at this day the appellation Sinae is unknown aamong them; an argument which de Pinedo on Stephanus treats as trifling.

   • 1927, Wilfred H. Schoff translating Marcian of Heraclea as Periplus of the Outer Sea..., p. 49:

     The sailing-course beyond the Ganges to the "country of the Sinae", as stated, would very nearly reach the Gulf of Tong-King.

   • 2008, Richard L. Smith, Premodern Trade in World History, p. 111:

     Exactly which term, "Sinae" or "Serica", equates to the modern China is a bit muddled. Sinae could refer to eastern peninsular Southeast Asia or southern China or both whereas Serica could refer to northern China or Xinjiang and eastern Central Asia or both.

Derived terms

• Sinaean

 

Latin

An early modern Latin map after Ptolemy, showing SINÆ on the Great Gulf at the eastern end of the landlocked Indian Ocean.

An 18th-century Latin map of China Proper (Sinæ Propriæ).

Alternative forms

• Chinae (New Latin)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Σῖναι (Sînai) of uncertain etymology, but probably from Sanskrit चीन (Cīna, “China”), possibly via Arabic صِين (Ṣīn, “China; the Chinese”) and usually held to derive from Old Chinese 秦 (*zin, “Qin”). See "Names of China" at Wikipedia. Doublet of Sina.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈsiː.nae̯/, [ˈs̠iːnäe̯]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.ne/, [ˈsiːne]

Proper noun

Sīnae f pl (genitive Sīnārum); first declension

1. the Chinese, specifically:
   1. (Classical Latin) the southern Chinese reached via the maritime Silk Road to Panyu (Guangzhou), not known at the time to be related to the Seres reached by the overland route to Chang'an (Xi'an)
   2. (New Latin) the Chinese people: the Han Chinese or citizens of China.
2. the land of the Chinese, specifically:
   1. (Classical Latin) the land of the southern Chinese
   2. (New Latin) China (a country in East Asia, either the Republic or People's Republic of China)

Declension

First-declension noun, plural only.

Case	Plural
Nominative	Sīnae
Genitive	Sīnārum
Dative	Sīnīs
Accusative	Sīnās
Ablative	Sīnīs
Vocative	Sīnae

Synonyms

• (Chinese people): Seres (New Latin)
• (China): Sina, Serica
• (Republic of China): Rēs Pūblica Sīnārum, Taivania, Formosa (New Latin)
• (People’s Republic of China): Rēs Pūblica Populāris Sīnārum (New Latin)

Coordinate terms

• Seres (northern Chinese as known to the ancient Greeks and Romans); Serica (land of the Seres)

Derived terms

• Rēs Pūblica Populāris Sīnārum
• Rēs Pūblica Sīnārum
• sīno-

 

Descendants

• English: Sinae, Sinaean, Sinaic, Sinese