CHINESE
Chinese
(adjective) of or pertaining to China or its peoples or cultures; “Chinese food”
Taiwanese, Chinese, Formosan
(adjective) of or relating to or characteristic of the island republic on Taiwan or its residents or their language; “the Taiwanese capital is Taipeh”
Chinese
(noun) any of the Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in China; regarded as dialects of a single language (even though they are mutually unintelligible) because they share an ideographic writing system
Chinese
(noun) a native or inhabitant of Communist China or of Nationalist China
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Proper noun
Chinese
(uncountable) Any of several Sinitic languages spoken in China, especially Literary Chinese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, or Min Nan.
(uncountable) The class of Sino-Tibetan dialects including Mandarin, Wu, Cantonese, Min Nan and others.
(uncountable) The logographic writing system shared by this language family.
Mandarin: an official language of the People's Republic of China
Noun
Chinese (countable and uncountable, plural Chinese or Chineses)
(uncountable, collective) The people of China.
(uncountable, collective) All people of Chinese descent or self-identity
(countable) A person from China or of Chinese descent.
(British, North America, Australia, uncountable, informal) Chinese food or cuisine.
(British, countable, informal) A Chinese meal.
Usage notes
However, it is rather frequent in East Asia as a translation for the demonym written 中國人 in Chinese or 中国人 (chūgokujin) in Japanese.
Synonyms
• (Chinese person): Han (ethnic Chinese regardless of the residence), Chinaman (properly of a man only); Chinee (archaic); chink (offensive slur); Sinese (rare)
Adjective
Chinese (not generally comparable, comparative more Chinese, superlative most Chinese)
Of China, its languages or people
Exotic; unfamiliar; unexpected; used in phrases such as Chinese whispers, Chinese handcuffs, and Chinese checkers.
Synonyms
• (of China, its language or people): Sinic, Sino- (prefix)
Anagrams
• Chinees, Eischen, seechin'
Source: Wiktionary
Chi"nese", a.
Definition: Of or pertaining to China; peculiar to China. Chinese paper.
See India paper, under India.
– Chinese wax, a snowy-wgite, waxlike substance brought from China.
It is the bleached secretion of certain insects of the family Coccidæ
especially Coccus Sinensis.
Chi*nese", n. sing. & pl.
1. A native or natives of China, or one of that yellow race with
oblique eyelids who live principally in China.
2. sing.
Definition: The language of China, which is monosyllabic.
Note: Chineses was used as a plural by the contemporaries of
Shakespeare and Milton.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition