Asian
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Asian
- /ˈeɪʒən/ Canada, US, UK
- /ˈeɪʃən/ Canada, US, UK
- /ˈæɪʒən/ Australia, New Zealand
- /ˈæɪʃən/ Australia, New Zealand
Rhymes with -eɪʃən, -eɪʒən
Where it comes from
From Latin āsiānus. By surface analysis, Asia + -an.
The modern North American and Australasian usage, referring to East and Southeast Asians collectively, seems to be a shortened form of "Asian American", a term whose origins activists and academics trace back to 1968 and University of California, Berkeley (UCLA) students Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee, who, inspired by the Black Power Movement and the protests against the Vietnam War, founded the "Asian American Political Alliance" as a way to unite Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino American students on campus. It replaced the term "Mongoloid", but still continued the racial grouping of "Mongoloid".
The usage in Britain and some of its former colonies such as South Africa, Kenya and Uganda, stems from South Asians historically forming the bulk of immigrants from the continent of Asia to these places.
In the rest of the Anglosphere, the word "Asian" is sometimes, albeit less frequently, used to refer to South Asians and Central Asians, but rarely (if ever) to Near Easterners.
noun Asians
-
A person from or with ancestry in East or Southeast Asia, occasionally South Asia.
Hate crimes and attacks on Asians have captured the local news and the national attention since 2020, producing a stream of content that showed innocent people being attacked and belittled in never-ending variations on the same violent theme.
Similar: East Asian, Oriental, Oriental Asian, Chinese
- A person from or with ancestry in South Asia. We call upon you to be ready to take over from the non-citizens who are leaving the country. As you are aware, I, on Wednesday the 9th August, 1972, signed a Decree revoking with effect from that date, all entry permits and certificates of residence which had been granted to British citizens of Asia
- A domestic cat of a breed similar to the Burmese.
Similar: Oriental, Asiatic, South Asian, Desi, Asian Indian, East Indian, Indian, Pakistani, Asian
adjective more Asian · most Asian
-
Of, relating to or from Asia.
There are white, black, Asian and Chinese Britons, just as there are any number of different sorts of Americans.
Similar: Asiatic
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: asiatic, oriental, eastern, african, asean, orient, asia, asia-pacific, thailand, donga, region, regional, east, association, adb, point
noun
Similar: Oriental, Asiatic, South Asian, Desi, Asian Indian, East Indian, Indian, Pakistani, Asian
Translations
Every language
noun person from Asia
| Español | asiático, asiática, asiano (desus.) |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 동양인 dong'yang'in, 아시아인 asiain |
| 日本語 | アジア人 ajiajin |
| 中文 | 亞洲人 /亚洲人 yàzhōurén, 亞裔 /亚裔 yàyì |
| हिन्दी | एशियाई eśiyāī |
| Português | asiático, asiática |
| Français | Asiatique |
| Deutsch | Asiate, Asiat, Asiatin |
| Italiano | asiatico, asiatica |
| Ελληνικά | Ασιάτης Asiátis, Ασιάτισσα Asiátissa |
| Română | asiatic, asiatică |
| Русский | азиа́т aziát, азиа́тка aziátka |
| Tiếng Việt | người châu Á, người Á châu |
| العربية | آسِيَوِيّ ʔāsiyawiyy, آسِيَوِيَّة ʔāsiyawiyya |
noun person from or descended from people from the Indian sub-continent
| 한국어 | 남아시아인 namasiain |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 南アジア人 minami ajiajin |
| 中文 | 南亞裔 /南亚裔 nányàyì |
| हिन्दी | एशियाई eśiyāī |
| Português | asiático, asiática |
| Français | asiatique |
| Italiano | asiatico, asiatica |
noun person from or descended from people from east Asia
| 한국어 | 동양인 dong'yang'in, 동아시아인 dong'asiain |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 東アジア人 higashi ajiajin |
| 中文 | 東亞裔 /东亚裔 dōngyàyì |
| हिन्दी | एशियाई eśiyāī |
| Português | asiático, asiática |
| Français | asiatique |
| Tiếng Việt | người Á Đông |
| עברית | אסיאתי asyáti |
adj of, relating to or from Asia
| Español | asiático, asiano |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 아시아의 asia-ui |
| 日本語 | アジアの Ajia no |
| 中文 | 亞洲的 /亚洲的 Yàzhōu de, Yǎzhōu de |
| हिन्दी | एशियाई eśiyāī |
| Português | asiático |
| Français | asiatique |
| Deutsch | asiatisch |
| Italiano | asiatico |
| Ελληνικά | ασιατικός asiatikós, ασιάτικος asiátikos |
| Română | asiatic |
| Русский | азиа́тский aziátskij |
| Tiếng Việt | châu Á, Á châu |
| العربية | آسِيَوِيّ ʔāsiyawiyy |
| עברית | אַסְיָתִי asyáti |
Talk about this word "Asian." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/asian. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. Asian. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/asian "Asian." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/asian.Cite this
@misc{asian_2026,
title = {Asian},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/asian},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
