Chinaman

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An offensive and outdated term for a man of Chinese origin ; in cricket, a ball bowled by a left-arm wrist spinner that turns from off to leg when bowled to a right-handed batter
2. A derogatory and dated label for a Chinese man ; in cricket, an unorthodox left-arm wrist-spin delivery that breaks away from the off side toward the leg side
3. Now considered a racial slur for a man from China ; in cricket, a left-arm bowling delivery with a wrist spin that turns the ball in the opposite direction to a standard finger spinner

Etymology: "Chinaman" is a compound of "china", meaning porcelain, and "man". It is now a dated and offensive term for a Chinese person, and it should not be used. In cricket, the same word names a left-arm wrist-spin delivery that turns unexpectedly. It is named in reference to Ellis Achong, a West Indian player of Chinese descent. The cricket sense relates to the older English "Chinese", meaning "unfamiliar, unexpected".