Chinatown

American  

[chahy-nuh-toun] / ˈtʃaɪ nəˌtaʊn /

noun

1. the main Chinese district in any city outside China.

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Chinatown British  

/ ˈtʃaɪnəˌtaʊn /

noun

1. a quarter of any city or town outside China with a predominantly Chinese population

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Etymology

Origin of Chinatown

China + town

Example Sentences

Videos of runway shows put on by the art-fashion collective Women’s History Museum reveal a series of unique venues—an abandoned Wall Street bank, an East Village church, a dying shopping mall in Chinatown.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

To learn Hong Kong mahjong, I visited a warmly lit community space in Chinatown one Tuesday night.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

“I found a little place in Chinatown with no sign on the doors,” Ausman says.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

From the expansive photo archives of his living room to a midnight shoot in the industrial heart of Chinatown, Reynaldo Rivera reveals the ghosts of Old Hollywood and the messy humanity captured in his lens.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

That meant our time in Chinatown was up and we had to go on to our next activity.

From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia