First recorded in 1960–65; Chinese (Mandarin) pīnyīn literally “phonetic spelling,” equivalent to pīn “arrange, classify” + yīn “sound, pronunciation”
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The pinyin system is the one preferred by the People’s Republic of China, and most Chinese names in this textbook are written in pinyin.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
The city’s name is now spelled Nanjing under the pinyin romanization system.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 12, 2021
New versions of the article, in attempts to evade censors, have proliferated, from one partly written in emojis to another done in morse code, as well as pinyin, the romanisation system for Mandarin.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 11, 2020
Calls to extend the alphabetization of Chinese, beyond the limited use of pinyin, quickly run into opposition in China from ordinary people, officials and many scholars.
From New York Times ● Aug. 23, 2012
Song Xiaowen Zhongli City, Taiwan Students of putonghua, or Mandarin Chinese, need to learn not just a romanization system like pinyin but also simplified and complex Chinese characters.
From Time Magazine Archive
The other half learned Mini Pinyin in the evening and then slept in the laboratory overnight while their brain activity was recorded.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 5, 2024
But he said the attacks had connections to China including cryptography relying on Pinyin phonetic versions of Chinese language characters, as well as techniques that echoed previous attacks by the Chinese government.
From Reuters ● Oct. 19, 2021
A linguist considered the father of modern China’s Pinyin Romanization system.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 28, 2017
“Perhaps it was due to my time overseas, but I always envisaged Pinyin being useful to foreigners, too,” he told China Daily in 2009.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 16, 2017
Until the advent of Pinyin, the most prevalent system was Wade-Giles, the work of two British diplomats in the late 19th century.
From New York Times ● Jan. 14, 2017
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
