Chinese New Year
Syllables: Chin·ese New Year/ˌt͡ʃaɪˌniːz ˌnjuː ˈjɪə/US/ˌt͡ʃaɪˌniz ˈn(j)u ˌjɪ(ə)ɹ/
Chinese New Year proper noun: an annual Chinese festival marking the beginning of the new year according to the Chinese lunisolar calendar, starting on the first day of the first lunar month and traditionally ending on the fifteenth day when there is a full moon. It is often celebrated by visiting family and friends, and giving gifts of money in red envelopes (ang pows or hongbao).
Proper noun
Chinese New Year (plural Chinese New Years)
- An annual Chinese festival marking the beginning of the new year according to the Chinese lunisolar calendar, starting on the first day of the first lunar month and traditionally ending on the fifteenth day when there is a full moon. It is often celebrated by visiting family and friends, and giving gifts of money in red envelopes (ang pows or hongbao).
- Near-synonyms: Lunar New Year, Spring Festival (synonymous in context)
- The Chin-yve [Chunjie], or Chineſe nevv year, begins vvith the nevv moon that falls next to the 5th of February, or the 15th degree of Aquarius, vvhich divides into tvvo equal parts the ſpace betvveen tvvo points in the equinox, and ſolſtice; and on that day according to them, the ſun enters a ſign...1704, John Francis Gemelli Careri [i.e., Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri], “[A Voyage Round the World […] Containing the Most Remarkable Things He Saw in China.] The Chinese New Year, and Solemn...
- Synonyms:
- Chunjie, Yuan Tan, Lunar New Year, Spring Festival
Chinese New Year meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Tagalog and Arabic
Chinese New Year in Hindi
- annual Chinese festival marking the beginning of the new year according to the Chinese lunisolar calendar
- चीनी नववर्ष cīnī navvarṣ
Chinese New Year in Tamil
- annual Chinese festival marking the beginning of the new year according to the Chinese lunisolar calendar
- சீனப்புத்தாண்டு cīṉapputtāṇṭu
Chinese New Year in Tagalog
- annual Chinese festival marking the beginning of the new year according to the Chinese lunisolar calendar
- Bagong Taon ng mga Tsino
Chinese New Year in Arabic
- annual Chinese festival marking the beginning of the new year according to the Chinese lunisolar calendar
- رَأْس السَّنَة الصِّينِيَّة, عِيد الرَّبِيع ʕīd ar-rabīʕ
More languagesFewer languages
- Chinese New Year in Malay
- Raya Cina, Tahun Baru Cina
- Chinese New Year in Indonesian
- sincia, Tahun Baru Imlek, Tahun Baru Tionghoa
- Chinese New Year in Thai
- ตรุษจีน dtrùt-jiin
- Chinese New Year in Vietnamese
- Tết, Tết Âm lịch, Tết Nguyên Đán, Tết ta
- Chinese New Year in Myanmar
- တရုတ်နှစ်တစ်ကူး ta.ruthnactacku:
Synonyms of Chinese New Year
Forms of Chinese New Year
| plural | Chinese New Years |
|---|---|
| alternative abbreviation | CNY |
Origin of Chinese New Year
From Chinese (adjective) + New Year (noun), the latter component matching the traditional name of the holiday, Mandarin 新年 (xīnnián, “New Year”): new (xīn) + year (nián).
Questions about Chinese New Year
- What does Chinese New Year mean?
- Chinese New Year means an annual Chinese festival marking the beginning of the new year according to the Chinese lunisolar calendar, starting on the first day of the first lunar month and traditionally ending on the fifteenth day when there is a full moon. It is often celebrated by visiting family and friends, and giving gifts of money in red envelopes (ang pows or hongbao).
- What is Chinese New Year in Hindi?
- Chinese New Year in Hindi is चीनी नववर्ष (cīnī navvarṣ). See Chinese New Year meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is Chinese New Year?
- Chinese New Year is a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce Chinese New Year?
- Chinese New Year is pronounced /ˌt͡ʃaɪˌniːz ˌnjuː ˈjɪə/ (UK).
Words near Chinese New Year in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Chinese New Year (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Chinese New Year.wav.
Cite this entry: “Chinese New Year.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chinese_new_year. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.