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Chinese
Definitions
- 1 Of, from, or related to China, particularly now the People's Republic of China. not-comparable, usually
"China has been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party since 1949."
- 2 Of, from, or related to the people of China, particularly the Han Chinese and their culture whether in China or overseas. not-comparable, usually
"Important Chinese holidays celebrated around the world include the Chinese New Year ("Spring Festival"), Tomb Sweeping Day, and the Mid-Autumn Festival."
- 3 Of, from, or related to a language native to Han Chinese persons, often used generally of Chinese characters or particularly to refer to Standard Mandarin. not-comparable, usually
"There are four Chinese tones... five, if you count the neutral one."
- 4 As exotic, unusual, backwards, or unorganized as someone or something from China. not-comparable, offensive, sometimes, usually
"It's all Chinese to me."
- 5 Used with a noun to indicate a referent different from, and seemingly more exotic or unusual than, the base noun's referent. not-comparable, offensive, sometimes, usually
"Chinese apple, Chinese checkers, Chinese snooker"
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- 6 Having barn doors with a horizontal orientation. dated, not-comparable, offensive, usually
- 1 of or pertaining to China or its peoples or cultures wordnet
- 2 of or relating to or characteristic of the island republic on Taiwan or its residents or their language wordnet
- 1 The citizens of China, particularly citizens of the People's Republic of China. collective, uncountable
"The Chinese have an incredible history."
- 2 The Han Chinese, whether in China or overseas. collective, uncountable
"The Chinese are present in all parts of the world."
- 3 The Standard Chinese language, written in Chinese characters and spoken and spelled using Standard Mandarin pronunciation. uncountable
"你好 is read “Nǐ hǎo” and means “Hello” in Chinese."
- 4 The branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family including Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, Southern Min, and other closely related language varieties and dialects. uncountable
"Suzhounese and Hakka are lesser-known varieties of Chinese."
- 5 The logographic writing system shared by most Sinitic languages. uncountable
"Hong Kong still uses traditional Chinese."
- 1 A person from China or of Chinese descent. countable, in-plural
"And the Iaponians, are longer liv’d, than the Chineſes; […]"
- 2 any of the Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in China; regarded as dialects of a single language (even though they are mutually unintelligible) because they share an ideographic writing system wordnet
- 3 Ellipsis of Chinese cuisine. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, uncountable
"Please don't eat the Chinese. I'm saving it for later."
- 4 a native or inhabitant of Communist China or of Nationalist China wordnet
- 5 Ellipsis of Chinese meal (“meal consisting of Chinese cuisine”). UK, abbreviation, alt-of, colloquial, countable, ellipsis
"We're going out tonight for a Chinese."
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- 6 Ellipsis of Chinese restaurant (“restaurant serving Chinese cuisine”). UK, abbreviation, alt-of, colloquial, countable, ellipsis
"Want to go to the Chinese after work?"
Etymology
From China + -ese under influence of Portuguese chinês, replacing older Chinish. Doublet of chinois. In its orientalist sense of "generically exotic, backwards, or poorly organized", sometimes a deliberate marketing strategy to increase sales, as with the German Chinese checkers. In its sense related to the orientation of stage lighting's barn doors, a reference to a supposed resemblance to East Asian eyes.
From China + -ese under influence of Portuguese chinês, replacing older Chinish. Doublet of chinois. In its orientalist sense of "generically exotic, backwards, or poorly organized", sometimes a deliberate marketing strategy to increase sales, as with the German Chinese checkers. In its sense related to the orientation of stage lighting's barn doors, a reference to a supposed resemblance to East Asian eyes.
From China + -ese under influence of Portuguese chinês, replacing older Chinish. Doublet of chinois. In its orientalist sense of "generically exotic, backwards, or poorly organized", sometimes a deliberate marketing strategy to increase sales, as with the German Chinese checkers. In its sense related to the orientation of stage lighting's barn doors, a reference to a supposed resemblance to East Asian eyes.
See also for "chinese"
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Unscramble this word: chinese