sino

Sino is a combining form used in English to denote relation to China. It derives from the Latin Sinae, the historical name for China, and has been used in scholarly terminology since at least the 18th century. As a prefix, Sino- attaches to nouns and adjectives to form compounds that describe Chinese-related languages, cultures, politics, and places. Its usage is most common in academic and official terminology.

In linguistics and anthropology, Sino- appears in terms such as Sino-Tibetan, the language family that groups Sinitic (Chinese) languages with Tibeto-Burman languages. In history and international relations, Sino- occurs in phrases like Sino-American relations, Sino-Japanese relations, Sino-Soviet relations, and the Sino-Indian War. It also appears in geography and archaeology contexts, for example Sino-Portuguese or Sino-Nepalese historical references. The prefix is typically hyphenated before capitalized or multi-word terms (Sino-Japanese) though some forms may be written as Sino-Tibetan.

Related terms include Sinology, the academic study of China; Sinitic, referring to the Chinese language group; and other uses of the Sino- prefix in scientific and scholarly nomenclature. It is distinct from the Spanish word sino, which means "but rather" when used as a conjunction. The Sino- prefix functions as a linguistic tool to signal China-related scope across disciplines, from language classification to international relations.