Etymologically
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cinese

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Pronunciation

  • /t͡ʃiˈne.ze/, /t͡ʃiˈne.se/[1]

Forms

cinese m or f by sense (plural cinesi)[1] The older spelling chinese was used by Leopardi and Tommaseo and is now out of use.[2][3][4] The 16th century also had chino (Sassetti, 1578), cini and sino.[5][6]

Etymology

It is from Italian Cina + -ese, from the name of China.[7][8][1]

The name reached the languages of Europe through Portuguese China in the 16th century.[9][6] Nocentini traces it through Persian چین (Čīn) and Sanskrit चीन (Cīna) to the name of the Qin state and dynasty, Chinese 秦 (Qín), which made China one empire in the 3rd century BC.[10] DEI also derives it, probably, from the name of the dynasty, and compares the ancient Greek names of the Chinese.[9] In antiquity the Chinese were identified with the Seres, the silk people of serico.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is chino in a letter of Filippo Sassetti of 1578, and cinese in Daniello Bartoli in 1661.[5] GRADIT dates the word to the letters of Tommaso Campanella, 1606, where he lists turchi, persiani, mori, chinesi among the peoples whose faith he compared with his own.[7][11] Zingarelli gives a date before 1557.[12]

Semantic evolution

Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century writers used the word for the customs and goods of China: Bartoli wrote that Chinese women placed the height of beauty in tiny feet, and Algarotti spoke of a Chinese bowl.[2] Leopardi described the Chinese language as built entirely on a system of compounds.[2]

Because Chinese writing is hard to read for Europeans, the noun came to mean any incomprehensible language, as in parlare cinese.[3][13] In the 1970s and 1980s i cinesi were the supporters of Mao Zedong's line in European politics, and by extension the far left.[7][12][4] Cooks call a conical steel strainer with very fine holes a cinese.[7] Cineseria, a Chinese-style ornament or knick-knack, is French chinoiserie, first used in its French form and recorded as chineseria in 1927.[5][10]

Timeline

  • Before 1557 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.[12]
  • 1578 – Sassetti uses chino “Chinese”.[5]
  • 1606 – Campanella writes chinesi.[7]
  • 1661 – Daniello Bartoli uses cinese.[5]
  • 1905 – French chinoiserie is used in Italian.[5]
  • 1927 – Chineseria is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or relating to China and its people: Abbiamo cenato in un ristorante cinese vicino alla stazione.[7][3][8]
  2. (politics, historical) Following the political line of the People's Republic of China under Mao.[3][4]

Noun

  1. A native or inhabitant of China.[7][3][8]
  2. (historical) In the 1970s and 1980s, a supporter of Maoism in Europe; a far-left extremist.[7][3][12]
  3. The Chinese language: Mia figlia studia cinese all'università.[7][3][12]
  4. (figurative) An incomprehensible language: Per me la fisica quantistica è cinese.[7][3]
  5. (cooking) A conical steel strainer with very fine holes.[7]

Word family

  • cineseria
  • cinesino
  • anticinese
  • Cina
  • sinologo
  • serico

Usage notes

Ombre cinesi is the shadow play made with the hands against a lit wall, scatole cinesi a set of nested boxes, and morra cinese the game of rock, paper, scissors.[12][3][7] The /s/ between vowels is pronounced voiced or voiceless.[1][12] GRADIT lists a separate cinese “of Cino”, from the name of a village in the province of Sondrio, recorded in 1961.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 292
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 944
  10. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. Supplemento 2009
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli