The English name "China" was borrowed from Portuguese during the 16th century, and its direct cognates became common in the subsequent centuries in the West. It is believed to be a borrowing from Middle Persian, and some have traced it further back to the Sanskrit word चीन (cīna) for the nation.

China (n.) Asian country name, 1550s (earliest European use is in Italian, by Marco Polo), of uncertain origin, probably ultimately from Sanskrit Cina-s "the Chinese," perhaps from Qin dynasty, which ruled 3c. B.C.E. Latinized as Sina, hence Sinologist. The Chinese word for the country is Chung-kuo (Wade-Giles), Zhongguo (Pinyin).