China
nounFine white ceramic or porcelain used for cups, plates, and ornaments.
How to spell china
5 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce china
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does china mean?
- nounFine white ceramic or porcelain used for cups, plates, and ornaments.
China in a sentence
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The wedding china was kept in a locked cabinet.
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She washed the good china by hand to avoid chipping it.
Where does china come from?
Language of origin: Other
This word is a place name that turned into the name of a material. Fine, translucent porcelain reached Europe through trade with China, and merchants and households simply called the ware after the country that produced it, much as 'arabica' or 'turkey' carry place names. The country name itself is usually traced to the Qin dynasty (pronounced roughly 'chin'), reaching European languages through Persian and Sanskrit forms such as 'Cina'. English began using 'china' for the imported porcelain in the 1600s, at first in phrases like 'china ware' before the shorter form took over. Because the material is named after a proper noun, writers sometimes wonder whether to capitalise it, but as the everyday word for crockery it is lowercase, which is the small trap worth remembering.
How the word is built
- china (from the place name China, the source country, used as a material noun)
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