china
English meaning: China
Definition
The plant Smilax china, a liana of much of eastern Asia.
Example
“The dinner was served on delicate blue-and-white china.”
Another example: “China has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.”
Usage — When, Where & How
As a proper noun, China is the East Asian country and, lowercase, 'china' is fine porcelain tableware ('a china teapot'). In British slang, 'china' means a friend (from Cockney rhyming slang 'china plate' = mate). The porcelain and country senses are most common.
Etymology & Origin
English — Origin & History
From the country China (via Persian and Sanskrit, ultimately from the Qin dynasty); the porcelain sense arose because fine ceramics were imported from China in the 16th–17th centuries.
Synonyms
- communist china
- formosa
- mainland china
- nationalist china
- prc
- red china
- republic of china
- taiwan
Related Words
- prc
- taiwan
- roc
- shanghai
- beijing
- macau
- mongolia
- qing
- tibet
- mao
Common Collocations
- made in china
- bone china
- fine china
- china plate
- china tea set
- mainland china
Word Forms
china (n, the material, uncount.); China (proper n)
Word Tools
Literary Heritage
“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
/To thine own self be true/
“Be honest with yourself — and as naturally as night follows day, you will be unable to be false to others.”
“I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?”
/I'm nobody! Who are you?/
“I am nobody — and that quiet anonymity is more honest than the noise of public fame.”
Images
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Language information
- Language
- English
- English
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- Indo-European
- Speakers
- 1.5B