The names of China include the many contemporary and historical designations given in various languages for the East Asian country known as 中国; 中國; Zhōngguó; Jhongguó in Standard Chinese, a form based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin.
The English name "China" was borrowed from Portuguese during the 16th century, and its direct cognates became common in the subsequent centuries in the West. It is believed to be a borrowing from Middle Persian, and some have traced it further back to the Sanskrit word चीन (cīna) for the nation. It is also thought that the ultimate source of the name China is the Chinese word Qín (秦), the name of the Qin dynasty that ultimately unified China after existing as a state within the Zhou dynasty for many centuries prior. However, there are alternative suggestions for the etymology of this word.
Chinese names...
Adrianna Tan
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