china
Meanings
Plural: chinas
Noun
- a communist nation that covers a vast territory in eastern Asia; the most populous country in the world
- high quality porcelain originally made only in China
- a government on the island of Taiwan established in 1949 by Chiang Kai-shek after the conquest of mainland China by the Communists led by Mao Zedong
- dishware made of high quality porcelain
- Synonym of porcelain, a hard white translucent ceramic made from kaolin, now (chiefly US) sometimes distinguished in reference to tableware as fine or good china.
- Chinaware: porcelain tableware.
- Cheaper and lower-quality ceramic and ceramic tableware, distinguished from porcelain.
- Synonym of China root, the root of Smilax china (particularly) as a medicine.
- Synonym of cheyney: worsted or woolen stuff.
- Synonym of China rose, in its various senses.
- Synonym of mate (rhyme of china-plate).
- Tea from China, (particularly) varieties cured by smoking or opposed to Indian cultivars.
- A glazed china marble.
- A kind of drum cymbal approximating a Chinese style of cymbal, but usually with Turkish influences.
Origin / Etymology
From clippings of attributive use of China, q.v., the country in East Asia. In reference to porcelain and porcelain objects, via clipping of chinaware and via this sense of Persian چینی (čīnī /čini) in Persia and India, which influenced the pronunciation (see below). In reference to medicine, via clipping of China root. In reference to flowers, via clipping of China rose. In reference to tea, via clipping of China tea. In Cockney slang, a clipping of china plate as a rhyme of mate (“friend”). In reference to drum cymbals, a clipping of China cymbal and as a genericization of a kind of Zildjian-brand cymbal.
Synonyms
Cathay, cheyney, China root, China rose, chinaware, Communist China, mainland China, mate, Nationalist China, People's Republic of China, porcelain, PRC, Red China, Republic of China, Taiwan
Scrabble Score: 10
china is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordchina is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
china is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary