Hanzi

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A traditional system of writing used in the Chinese language, represented by logographic characters that convey meaning rather than sound
2. A set of written symbols originating in ancient China, each character representing a word or idea in Mandarin and other dialects
3. A complex script comprising thousands of characters, with roots in historical Chinese writing, extensively used in East Asia for communication

Etymology: Hanzi is simply the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin phrase 漢字 (Hànzì), meaning "Han characters," the written symbols used in Chinese. The name points to the Han, the dynasty and people whose era gave the writing system much of its classical form, so the word carries a historical label rather than a description of the shapes themselves. The word is a doublet of "kanji" and "hanja," the Japanese and Korean terms for the same script. All three words come from the same Chinese source, 漢字, but each reached its own language and was pronounced in that language's way, so English speakers meet the same characters under three different names.

Synonyms: Chinese characters, Chinese script, sinograms