Word: Chinese Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From China + -ese under influence of Portuguese chinês, replacing older Chinish. Doublet of chinois. In its orientalist sense of "generically exotic, backwards, or poorly organized", sometimes a deliberate marketing strategy to increase sales, as with the German Chinese checkers. In its sense related to the orientation of stage lighting's barn doors, a reference to a supposed resemblance to East Asian eyes. Pronunciation: /t͡ʃaɪˈniːz/, /ˈt͡ʃaɪniːz/, /ˌt͡ʃaɪˈniz/, /ˈt͡ʃaɪˌniz/, /ˌt͡ʃʌɪˈniz/ 1. Of, from, or related to China, particularly now the People's Republic of China. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: China has been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party since 1949. Example: In this instance, when the Chairman of the "Accuracy in Media" spoke out strongly against the Chinese Communist system of "pin yin" spelling, he was not criticizing any bias or unreliability of news presentation but specifically the inconvenience and confusion caused by the "pin yin" spelling of Chinese names. 2. Of, from, or related to the people of China, particularly the Han Chinese and their culture whether in China or overseas. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: Important Chinese holidays celebrated around the world include the Chinese New Year ("Spring Festival"), Tomb Sweeping Day, and the Mid-Autumn Festival. Example: In the early 1870’s anti-Chinese agitation in California became organized and focused under the leadership of Denis Kearney, who was, ironically, an immigrant from Ireland. A campaign of organized violence against Chinese communities took form, and the hysteria led to political pressure too violent to be resisted. President Hayes vetoed an act of Congress restricting Chinese immigration, but he did force renegotiation of the Burlingame Treaty under which the government of China agreed to restrict emigration voluntarily. 3. Of, from, or related to a language native to Han Chinese persons, often used generally of Chinese characters or particularly to refer to Standard Mandarin. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: There are four Chinese tones... five, if you count the neutral one. Example: The construction of a verbal system which is fairly regular and at the same time based on existing languages is a most difficult task, because in no other domain of the grammar do languages retain a greater number of ancient irregularities and differ more fundamentally from one another. Still an attempt will be made here to conciliate the two points of view and to bring about something which resembles the simple Chinese grammar without, however, losing its European character or the power of expressing nuances to which we are accustomed in our own languages. 4. As exotic, unusual, backwards, or unorganized as someone or something from China. Labels: not-comparable, offensive, sometimes, usually Example: It's all Chinese to me. 5. Used with a noun to indicate a referent different from, and seemingly more exotic or unusual than, the base noun's referent. Labels: not-comparable, offensive, sometimes, usually Example: Chinese apple, Chinese checkers, Chinese snooker 6. Having barn doors with a horizontal orientation. Labels: dated, not-comparable, offensive, usually