Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Σῖναι
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Remove ads
Ancient Greek
Alternative forms
Etymology
Uncertain, but possibly from Arabic صِين (Ṣīn, “China”) + -αι (-ai), from Middle Persian 𐭰𐭩𐭭 (čīn, “China”), from Sanskrit चीन (Cīna, “China”), and usually held to derive from Old Chinese 秦 (*zin, “Qin”).
Pronunciation
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /sîː.nai̯/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈsi.nɛ/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈsi.nɛ/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈsi.ne/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ˈsi.ne/
Proper noun
Σῖναι • (Sînai) m pl (genitive Σῑνῶν); first declension
- (culture) a people of East Asia usually identified as the southern Chinese: the Cantonese, Vietnamese, and other Yue peoples reached via the maritime Silk Road to Panyu (Guangzhou), not known at the time to be related to the Seres reached by the overland route to Chang'an (Xi'an)
- 1878, Franz Delitzsch with Neumann, translated by Thomas Rawson Birks, Commentary on the Book of Isaiah (in English), page 247:
- The name Θῖναι, Strabo, Σῖναι, Ptol., Τζίνιτζα, Kosmas, did not obtain currency first from the founder of the dynasty Tsin; but, long before this, Tsin was the name of a feudal kingdom in Shensi, one of the western provinces of the Sinese land, and Feitsa, the first feudal King of Tsin, began to reign as early as b.c. 897.
- The name Thînai, Strabo, Sînai, Ptol., Tzínitza, Kosmas, did not obtain currency first from the founder of the dynasty Tsin; but, long before this, Tsin was the name of a feudal kingdom in Shensi, one of the western provinces of the Sinese land, and Feitsa, the first feudal King of Tsin, began to reign as early as b.c. 897.
- their homeland in southern China: Guangdong and northern Vietnam
- their chief city
Inflection
Synonyms
Descendants
See also
- (modern China): Κίνα (Kína)
Further reading
- “Thinae”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
Remove ads
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads