Sinae

From Latin Sinae, from Ancient Greek Σῖναι (Sînai), q.v. Equivalent to Sino- +‎ -ae.

Sinae

1. (historical) Synonym of Chinese or Southern Chinese, chiefly in the context of ancient Greco-Roman knowledge of China.
   • 1773, Alexander MacBean, A Dictionary of Ancient Geography..., s.v. "Sinae":

     ... the outmoſt people to the eaſt, next the Sinus Magnus, and inclining to the ſouth, not to be blended with the Chineſe... Beyond the Sinae to the eaſt, and ſouth was a terra incognita... Iſ. Voſſius takes the Sinae to be the Siameſe; becauſe at this day the appellation Sinae is unknown aamong them; an argument which de Pinedo on Stephanus treats as trifling.

   • 1927, Wilfred H. Schoff translating Marcian of Heraclea as Periplus of the Outer Sea..., p. 49:

     The sailing-course beyond the Ganges to the "country of the Sinae", as stated, would very nearly reach the Gulf of Tong-King.

   • 2008, Richard L. Smith, Premodern Trade in World History, p. 111:

     Exactly which term, "Sinae" or "Serica", equates to the modern China is a bit muddled. Sinae could refer to eastern peninsular Southeast Asia or southern China or both whereas Serica could refer to northern China or Xinjiang and eastern Central Asia or both.

• Chinae (New Latin)

From Ancient Greek Σῖναι (Sînai) of uncertain etymology, but probably from Sanskrit चीन (Cīna, “China”), possibly via Arabic صِين (Ṣīn, “China; the Chinese”) and usually held to derive from Old Chinese 秦 (*zin, “Qin”). See "Names of China" at Wikipedia. Doublet of Sina.

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsiː.nae̯/, [ˈs̠iːnäe̯]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.ne/, [ˈsiːne]

Sīnae f pl (genitive Sīnārum); first declension

1. the Chinese, specifically:
   1. (Classical Latin) the southern Chinese 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)
   2. (New Latin) the Chinese people: the Han Chinese or citizens of China.
2. the land of the Chinese, specifically:
   1. (Classical Latin) the land of the southern Chinese
   2. (New Latin) China (a country in East Asia, either the Republic or People's Republic of China)

First-declension noun, plural only.

• (Chinese people): Seres (New Latin)
• (China): Sina, Serica
• (Republic of China): Rēs Pūblica Sīnārum, Taivania, Formosa (New Latin)
• (People’s Republic of China): Rēs Pūblica Populāris Sīnārum (New Latin)

• Seres (northern Chinese as known to the ancient Greeks and Romans); Serica (land of the Seres)

• English: Sinae, Sinaean, Sinaic, Sinese