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Wiktionary

china

See also: China and čhína

Contents

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /tʃʌɪnə/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)
  • Audio (AU)
    		(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪnə

Etymology 1

After the country China.

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.
    • 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Printed by Iohn Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 216894069; The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd corrected and augmented edition, Oxford: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, 1624, OCLC 54573970, partition II, section 5, member 1, subsection v:
      China, saith Manardus, makes a good colour in the face, takes away melancholy, and all infirmities proceeding from cold […].
  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, Australia, South Africa, countable) Mate (i.e., friend).
    All right, me old china?
Translations
Cockney rhyming slang: mate — see mate

Anagrams

French

Verb

china

  1. third-person singular past historic of chiner

Anagrams

Italian

Etymology 1

Adjective form.

Adjective

china

  1. Feminine singular of adjective chino.

Etymology 2

From the verb chinare.

Noun

china f (plural chine)

  1. slope, decline, descent
    Synonyms: pendio, declivio, discesa
Related terms

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Spanish quina, quinaquina, from Quechua.

Noun

china f (plural chine)

  1. cinchona (tree)
Related terms

Etymology 4

From Portuguese China, namely "ink of China".

Noun

china f (plural chine)

  1. Indian ink

Etymology 5

Verb form.

Verb

china

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

Japanese

Romanization

china

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ちな

Kalasha

Adjective

china

  1. Alternative spelling of čhína

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish china, from Quechua china (“female”).

Noun

china f (plural chinas)

  1. (Rio Grande do Sul) a woman, especially one of Native American descent

Etymology 2

From China.

Noun

china m, f (plural chinas)

  1. (dated or informal) Chinaman; Chinese; someone from China
    Synonym: chinês

Spanish

Etymology 1

From the infantile/nursery word chin, a children's guessing game.[1][2]

Noun

china f (plural chinas)

  1. Pebble, small stone usually rounded
Related terms

Etymology 2

Adjective

china

  1. Feminine singular of adjective chino.

Noun

china f (plural chinas, masculine chino, masculine plural chinos)

  1. A Chinese woman.

See also

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Quechua china (“female”).

Noun

china f (plural chinas)

  1. (derogatory, 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)

References

  1. ^ “china” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.
  2. ^ Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN
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