Standard Lemma guide

pinyin

name · noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • pĭn′yĭn′
  • Australian, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation, Scotland: /ˈpɪnˈjɪn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • New-Zealand: /ˈpənˈjən/
  • India: /ˈpinˈjin/

1

name

Meaning 1

Alternative form of Pinyin.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

A system of romanization for Standard Mandarin, used in the People’s Republic of China, and more recently in other Mandarin Chinese-speaking areas as well.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Hanyu Pinyin

Antonyms: none provided

3

name

Meaning 3

A Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Alternative form of Pinyin.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative, uncountable

Examples

  • For quotations using this term, see Citations:pinyin.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A phonetic script or romanization system for various languages spoken in the People's Republic of China, e.g. Tibetan

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • For quotations using this term, see Citations:Pinyin.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

20th c., from Mandarin Chinese 拼音 (pīnyīn, literally “spelled sounds”).

Across languages

Translations

47 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: بِينْيِن (bīnyin) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Arabic: بِينْيِن (pīnyin) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Armenian: փինյին (pʻinyin) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Belarusian: піньі́нь (pinʹínʹ) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Bulgarian: пини́н (pinín) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Chinese Cantonese: 拼音 (ping3 jam1) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Chinese Cantonese: 漢語拼音 /汉语拼音 (hon3 jyu5 ping3 jam1) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Chinese Mandarin: 拼音 (pīnyīn) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Chinese Mandarin: 漢語拼音 /汉语拼音 (hànyǔ pīnyīn) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Czech: pinyin — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Czech: pchin-jin — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Esperanto: pinjino — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Finnish: pinyin — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • French: pinyin — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Georgian: პინ-ინი (ṗin-ini) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • German: Pinyin — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Greek: πινγίν (pingín) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Hebrew: פין־יין (pin-yin) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Hindi: पिन्यिन (pinyin) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Hungarian: pinjin — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Japanese: ピンイン (pin'in) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Japanese: 拼音 (pin'in) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Japanese: ピン音 (pin'in) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Japanese: 併音 (pin'in) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Kazakh: пінін (pının) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Korean: 병음 (byeong'eum) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Korean: 한어 병음 (haneo byeong'eum) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Latvian: piņjiņs — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Macedonian: пи́нјин (pínjin) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Marathi: फीनयीन (phīnyīn) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Mongolian: пинь-инь (pinʹ-inʹ) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Persian: پینیین (pin-yin) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Polish: pinyin — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Portuguese: pinyin — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Portuguese: piniim — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Romanian: pinyin — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Russian: пиньи́нь (pinʹínʹ) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Russian: ханью́й пиньи́нь (xanʹjúj pinʹínʹ) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Serbo-Croatian: пинјин — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Serbo-Croatian: pinjin — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Serbo-Croatian: pinyin — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Spanish: pinyin — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Tamil: பின்யின் (piṉyiṉ) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Thai: พินอิน (pin-in) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Ukrainian: піньї́нь (pinʹjínʹ) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Uyghur: پىنيىن (pinyin) — romanization of Mandarin Chinese
  • Vietnamese: bính âm — romanization of Mandarin Chinese