qin
/t͡ʃɪn//t͡ʃɪn/
qin noun: any of several traditional Chinese musical instruments, most commonly the seven-stringed instrument more specifically called the guqin.
Noun
qin (plural qins)
- Any of several traditional Chinese musical instruments, most commonly the seven-stringed instrument more specifically called the guqin.
- ... there was no longer anyone worth playing his qin for, so he broke his instrument and never played again. The guqin was also a means of expressing love.1989, Zhongguo fu li hui, Chung-kuo fu li hui, China Reconstructs
- He makes his qin students take calligraphy with him, and calligraphy and painting students play the qin.2006, Dana Standridge, Lessons in Essence: A Novel
Proper noun (1) capitalized: Qin
Qin (countable and uncountable, plural Qins)
- An ancient feudal state of China that existed between 778 and 207 BC.
- The first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC.
- Sian was the captial of the Cin Dynasty(221B.C. - 201B.C.), which built the Great Wall of China. The city is now known for archeological finds, such as the clay soldiers, horses and arms buried with the emperor of the Cin Dynasty.[2007, “Our Trip Back to Shanghai”, in A Girl From Shanghai: The Story of Lillian Hsu, a Medical Geneticist, a NTU Medical College Alumna, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 48
- Until 1974, the name Qin Shihuangdi (221-210 B.C.) was essentially known to specialists through the annals of Sima Qian, official historian to the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.). The Han overthrew the Qin dynasty founded by the First Emperor and this might call for reservations concerning his...2007 September 14, Souren Melikian, “A Chinese emperor's cultural revolution”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 Nov 2024, Arts
- A surname from Chinese.
- Qin and Meng applied for permission to have a child from authorities in Huangshan city in eastern Anhui province, where her residency is registered, said the officer, who gave only his surname, also Qin.2015 May 19, “China teacher allowed to give birth and ordered to abort”, in AP News, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2023
Proper noun (2) capitalized: Qin
Qin
Forms of qin
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | qins |
| alternative form | kin |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Qins |
| alternative form | Ch'in |
| alternative form | Tsin |
| alternative form | Chin |
Origin of qin
From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 琴 (qín).
From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 秦 (Qín), from Middle Chinese (*dzin), from Old Chinese (*dzin).
From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 沁 (Qìn).
Words formed from qin
Phrases with qin
Questions about qin
- What does qin mean?
- Qin means any of several traditional Chinese musical instruments, most commonly the seven-stringed instrument more specifically called the guqin.
- What part of speech is qin?
- Qin can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce qin?
- Qin is pronounced /t͡ʃɪn/ (US).
- What is the plural of qin?
- The plural of qin is qins.
Words near qin in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: qin (page history and authors); Qin (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: en-us-chin.ogg.
Cite this entry: “qin.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/qin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.