A·sian

(ā′zhən)

adj.

Of or relating to Asia or its peoples, languages, or cultures.

1. A native or inhabitant of Asia.

2. A person of Asian ancestry.

Usage Note: Asia is the largest of the continents, with more than half the world's population. Though strictly speaking all of its inhabitants are Asians, in practice this term is applied almost exclusively to the peoples of East, Southeast, and South Asia as opposed to those of Southwest Asia—such as Arabs, Turks, Iranians, and Kurds—who are more usually designated Middle or Near Easterners. Indonesians and Filipinos are properly termed Asian, since their island groups are considered part of the Asian continent, but not the Melanesians, Micronesians, and Polynesians of the central and southern Pacific, who are now often referred to collectively as Pacific Islanders. See Usage Note at Oriental.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Asian

(ˈeɪʃən; ˈeɪʒən)

adj

1. (Placename) of or relating to Asia or to any of its peoples or languages

2. (Peoples) of or relating to Asia or to any of its peoples or languages

3. (Languages) of or relating to Asia or to any of its peoples or languages

4. (Placename) Brit of or relating to natives of the Indian subcontinent or any of their descendants, esp when living in Britain

5. (Peoples) Brit of or relating to natives of the Indian subcontinent or any of their descendants, esp when living in Britain

6. (Languages) Brit of or relating to natives of the Indian subcontinent or any of their descendants, esp when living in Britain

7. (Peoples) a native or inhabitant of Asia or a descendant of one

8. (Peoples) Brit a native of the Indian subcontinent or a descendant of one

Usage: To refer to someone from the Indian subcontinent as an Asian is potentially offensive and should be avoided. If you are talking about one specific group, it is better to say so, for instance people of Indian descent

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

A•sian

(ˈeɪ ʒən, ˈeɪ ʃən)
adj., n.

usage: Asian as a noun and adjective is now generally the preferred and most commonly used term, especially for the ethnic designation. Specific names are also used, such as Korean and Pacific Islander. Asiatic is sometimes considered offensive, being associated with colonialism. Oriental as a noun or as an adjective applied to a person is outdated and is also becoming a sensitive term to be avoided.

—adj.

1. of or pertaining to Asia or its inhabitants.

2. a person born in Asia or of Asian descent.

3. an inhabitant of Asia.

[1555–65]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	Asian - a native or inhabitant of Asia Asiatic denizen, dweller, habitant, inhabitant, indweller - a person who inhabits a particular place person of color, person of colour - (formal) any non-European non-white person Indian - a native or inhabitant of India Eurasian - a person of mixed European and Asian descent Afghanistani, Afghan - a native or inhabitant of Afghanistan Altaic - any member of the peoples speaking a language in the Altaic language group Armenian - a native or inhabitant of Armenia Bangladeshi - a native or inhabitant of Bangladesh Bengali - (Hinduism) a member of a people living in Bangladesh and West Bengal (mainly Hindus) Bhutanese, Bhutani - a native or inhabitant of Bhutan Burmese - a native or inhabitant of Myanmar Byzantine - a native or inhabitant of Byzantium or of the Byzantine Empire Cambodian, Kampuchean - a native or inhabitant of Cambodia Chinese - a native or inhabitant of Communist China or of Nationalist China East Indian - a native or inhabitant of the East Indies Malay, Malayan - a member of a people inhabiting the northern Malay Peninsula and Malaysia and parts of the western Malay Archipelago Hindoo, Hindu, Hindustani - a native or inhabitant of Hindustan or India Hmong, Miao - a people living traditionally in mountain villages in southern China and adjacent areas of Vietnam and Laos and Thailand; many have emigrated to the United States Indonesian - a native or inhabitant of Indonesia Irani, Iranian, Persian - a native or inhabitant of Iran; "the majority of Irani are Persian Shiite Muslims" Iraki, Iraqi - a native or inhabitant of Iraq; "the majority of Iraqi are Arab Shiite Muslims although Sunni Muslims control the government" Israelite - a native or inhabitant of the ancient kingdom of Israel Israeli - a native or inhabitant of Israel Japanese, Nipponese - a native or inhabitant of Japan Jordanian - a native or inhabitant of Jordan Korean - a native or inhabitant of Korea who speaks the Korean language Kurd - a member of a largely pastoral Islamic people who live in Kurdistan; the largest ethnic group without their own state Kuwaiti - a native or inhabitant of Kuwait Lao, Laotian - a member of a Buddhist people inhabiting the area of the Mekong River in Laos and Thailand and speaking the Lao language; related to the Thais Lebanese - a native or inhabitant of Lebanon Malaysian - a native or inhabitant of Malaysia Maldivan, Maldivian - a native or inhabitant of Maldives Nepalese, Nepali - a native or inhabitant of Nepal Pakistani - a native or inhabitant of Pakistan Parthian - a native or inhabitant of Parthia Singhalese, Sinhalese - a native or inhabitant of Sri Lanka Sherpa - a member of the Himalayan people living in Nepal and Tibet who are famous for their skill as mountaineers Syrian - a native or inhabitant of Syria Taiwanese - a native or inhabitant of Taiwan Tadzhik, Tajik - a native or inhabitant of Tajikistan and neighboring areas of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan and China Tai, Thai, Siamese - a native or inhabitant of Thailand Tibetan - a native or inhabitant of Tibet Turki - any member of the peoples speaking a Turkic language Kazakhstani - a native or inhabitant of Kazakhstan Annamese, Vietnamese - a native or inhabitant of Vietnam Singaporean - an inhabitant of Singapore Sri Lankan - a native or inhabitant of Sri Lanka Dardan, Dardanian, Trojan - a native of ancient Troy Iberian - a native or inhabitant of Iberia in the Caucasus Timorese - a native or inhabitant of Timor
Adj.	1.	Asian - of or relating to or characteristic of Asia or the peoples of Asia or their languages or culture; "Asian countries" Asiatic

Translations

آسْيَوِيّ

Asijecasijský

asiatasiatisk

asiatisch Asiate Asiatin Asiat

ασιατικός Ασιάτης

Asiático Asiática

aasialainen

asiatique Asiate

azijskiAzijacAzijatAzijka

ázsiai

asiatico asiatica

アジアのアジア人

아시아 사람아시아의

азиатский азиаты азиат

asiatasiatiskindier

เกี่ยวกับประเทศในเอเชียชาวเอเชีย

Asya Asyalı

người châu Áthuộc châu Á

亚洲人亚洲的

Asian

[ˈeɪʃn]

A. ADJ → asiático
Asian flu → gripe f asiática

B. N → asiático/a m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Asian

[ˈeɪʒən]

(= person from Asia) → Asiatique mf

(British) (= person from the Indian subcontinent) → Indo-Pakistanais(e) m/f

adj

(from Asia) → asiatique
He's Asian → Il est asiatique.
She's Asian → Elle est asiatique.

(from the Indian subcontinent) → indo-pakistanais(e)
He's Asian → Il est indo-Pakistanais.
She's Asian → Elle est indo-Pakistanaise.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Asian

, Asiatic

adj

→ asiatisch; (= from the Indian subcontinent) → indisch-pakistanisch

(Brit: = from Indian subcontinent) → indopakistanisch

→ Asiat(in) m(f)

(Brit: = person from the Indian subcontinent) → Indopakistaner(in) m(f)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Asian

[ˈeɪʃn] Asiatic [ˌeɪʃɪˈætɪk] adj & n → asiatico/a

Asian

→ آسْيَوِيّ Asijec, asijský asiat, asiatisk Asiate, asiatisch Ασιάτης, ασιατικός asiático aasialainen asiatique Azijat, azijski asiatico アジアの, アジア人 아시아 사람, 아시아의 Aziaat, Aziatisch asiat, asiatisk Azjata, azjatycki asiático азиат, азиатский asiat, asiatisk เกี่ยวกับประเทศในเอเชีย, ชาวเอเชีย Asya, Asyalı người châu Á, thuộc châu Á 亚洲人, 亚洲的

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

When the wind came from the African or Asian coast the Mongolia, with her long hull, rolled fearfully.

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"Come," says the White Logic, "and forget these Asian dreamers of old time.

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"It may be that our Central Asian ancestors had not the custom of burial.

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"Your what?" interrupted Mr Vladimir in his guttural Central Asian tones.

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We find the "standing stones" of the Celts in Asian Siberia; in the pampas of America.

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And Auge bare Telephus of the stock of Areas, king of the Mysians, being joined in love with the mighty Heracles when he was journeying in quest of the horses of proud Laomedon -- horses the fleetest of foot that the Asian land nourished, -- and destroyed in battle the tribe of the dauntless Amazons and drove them forth from all that land.

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2) And here there grows, unpruned, untamed, Terror to foemen's spear, A tree in Asian soil unnamed, By Pelops' Dorian isle unclaimed, Self-nurtured year by year;

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Then I heard an old grizzled, long-haired Central Asian chief, who had come down with the Amir, asking questions of a native officer.

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As his curate, his comrade, all would be right: I would cross oceans with him in that capacity; toil under Eastern suns, in Asian deserts with him in that office; admire and emulate his courage and devotion and vigour; accommodate quietly to his masterhood; smile undisturbed at his ineradicable ambition; discriminate the Christian from the man: profoundly esteem the one, and freely forgive the other.

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The 1960s proved critical in mobilizing a new generation of Asian American youth into politics and social movements.

How Asian Americans became Democrats: the last two decades have seen a major shift in the party preferences of Asian Americans, but they're still not deeply engaged in civic life

Many South Asians living in New York City with tuberculosis likely became infected while living overseas, according to a study published in the May issue of APHA's American Journal of Public Health.

TB in NYC South Asians imported

According to the 2013 census, "Asian" has become the third largest ethnic group in New Zealand, making up nearly 12 per cent of the population.

Plunket develops Asian care models