Sinae
name ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Synonym of Chinese or Southern Chinese, chiefly in the context of ancient Greco-Roman knowledge of China. historical
"... 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."
Example
More examples"... 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."
Etymology
From Latin Sinae, from Ancient Greek Σῖναι (Sînai), q.v. See also Sino-.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.