china English · revision 2587

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1579 (Hakluyt)|origins=fa چینی}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈtʃaɪ.nə/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a borrowing of Persian chīnī “Chinese porcelain”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004) altered under the influence of the country name [[China]].^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) Etymonline, Hoad and Klein treat it instead as a shortening of China ware, “ware from China”.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) The American Heritage Dictionary notes that 16th- and 17th-century spellings such as chiney, cheny and cheney reflect the Persian word, and that both it and Sanskrit cīnāḥ “the Chinese”, the source of the country name, go back to Chinese [[m|cmn|秦|tr=Qín]], the dynasty that ruled China from 221 to 206 BC.^(AHD 2000) The SOED says that the origin of the country name is unknown and that it is not native Chinese.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the compound ''China dishes'': 1579, in Hakluyt's account of Drake's voyages,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) or the 1570s.^(Etymonline) The porcelain was originally made in China and brought to Europe by the Portuguese in the 16th century.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''China-ware'' is from 1634^(OED 1989) or the 1630s,^(Etymonline) and ''china'' alone from 1653^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) or the 1650s.^(Etymonline) It came to be used of porcelain and porcelain ware generally,^(Etymonline) and of tableware of earthenware as well.^(AHD) English dialect forms include ''chainy'' and ''cheeny'', from 1823.^(OED 1989) ''China shop'' is from 1750,^(Etymonline) hence ''a bull in a china shop''.^(Roach et al. 2011) Something delicate or fragile is ''china'' figuratively from 1858,^(HTOED) and the twentieth wedding anniversary is the china anniversary, originally American, from 1863.^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1579 – ''China dishes'' (Hakluyt).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1634 – ''China-ware''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1653 – ''china''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1750 – ''china shop''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1823 – dialect ''chainy''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1863 – the china wedding anniversary.^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # High-quality [[porcelain]] or ceramic ware, originally made in China.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Porcelain or earthenware dishes for the table; [[crockery]].^(AHD)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Made of china.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bone china]]

+ * [[china blue]]

+ * [[china clay]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[China]]

+ * [[Chinese]]

+ * [[porcelain]]

+ * [[Sino-]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The country is [[China]], with a capital letter.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) The OED records an unrelated ''China root'', the root of a climbing plant of the genus ''Smilax'' used in medicine, from 1563.^(OED 1989) In Cockney rhyming slang ''china'', “mate”, is perhaps short for ''china plate''.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}