List of English Words of Chinese Origin - C

C

Catsup

see Ketchup

Char

colloquial English word for 'tea', originally from Chinese 茶 (Cantonese/Mandarin chá; Vietnamese trà or chè).

Cheongsam

from Cantonese 長衫 (cheungsaam), lit. long clothes. Popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Chi

or "qi", energy of an object or person, from Chinese Mandarin 氣 (air or spirit). (This word is correctly represented in Wade-Giles romanization by "ch'i," but the rough breathing mark (replaced by an apostrophe in most texts) has disappeared in colloquial English.)

China

via Latin Sina, Persian چین Cin, and Sanskrit चीन Chinas; ultimately from the name of the Ch'in Dynasty 秦

Chop chop

from Cantonese chuk chuk 速速, lit. hurry, urgent

Chopsticks

from Chinese Pidgin English chop chop.

Chop suey

from Cantonese 雜碎 (tzapseui), lit. mixed pieces

Chow

from Chinese Pidgin English chowchow which means food, perhaps based on Cantonese 炒, lit. stir fry (cooking)

Chow chow

any of a breed of heavy-coated blocky dogs of Chinese origin

Chow mein

from Taishanese 炒麵 (chau meing), lit. stir fried noodle, when the first Chinese immigrants, from Taishan came to the United States.

Confucianism

from Confucius, Latinized form of 孔夫子 (kǒng fūzǐ) 'Master Kong'

Cumshaw

from Amoy 感謝, feeling gratitude