Chinese

The word “Chinese” means relating to China, its people, or their culture. In plain terms, describes anything from China or its people, or refers to the language itself.

“Chinese” is pronounced cheye-NEEZ (/ˌt͡ʃaɪˈniz/ in IPA).

Here is “Chinese” used in a sentence: “They celebrated Chinese New Year with a big family dinner.”

Words with a similar meaning to “Chinese” include Sinic, Sino-, Seric, Serian, Serican and Sinaean.

Depending on how it is used, “Chinese” can be an adjective and a name.

“Chinese” is a very common word in modern English.

“Chinese” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: relating to China, its people, or their culture.

Chinese is a broad term covering the language, people and culture of China. Mandarin is the most widely spoken variety of the Chinese language and the country's official standard. So all Mandarin is Chinese, but Chinese also includes other varieties such as Cantonese. 'Chinese' is the umbrella; 'Mandarin' is one branch.

It can be both. As a nationality, 'Chinese' describes people from China. As a language, it refers to the group of related varieties spoken there, of which Mandarin is the standard form. The same word also works as an adjective for anything relating to China's culture, food or history.

Chinese is not a single language but a family of related varieties. The largest is Mandarin, the official standard, followed by widely spoken forms such as Cantonese, Wu (including Shanghainese), Hokkien and Hakka. They share a common writing system but differ greatly in pronunciation, so speakers may not understand one another.

It is more natural and respectful to say 'a Chinese person' or 'a Chinese woman' rather than 'a Chinese' on its own, which can sound abrupt. Used as an adjective before a noun, the word is perfectly polite, and 'Chinese people' is preferred as the plural.