Hainan

Hai·nan
H4A1I1N1A1N1
/haɪˈnɑːn//haɪˈnæn/

proper noun

A province off the coast of southern China, primarily made up of Hainan Island. Capital: Haikou.

Less commonScrabble 9

Meanings

proper noun

alternative Hai-nan · alternative obsolete Ainan · alternative obsolete Haynan

  1. A province off the coast of southern China, primarily made up of Hainan Island. Capital: Haikou.

    The Tianzhou-4 spacecraft was slung into space atop a Long March-7 Y5 rocket at 1:56 a.m. from the Wenchang Launch Base in the southern island province of Hainan. State media said it docked with the station about seven hours later.

    2022 May 9, “China cargo craft docks with space station ahead of new crew”, in AP News, archived from the original on 10 May 2022
    2 more examples

    These were a business family, in Hainan province, who, along with other South China merchants, had interests in America, where the multitude of little shops and businesses owned by Chinese had assumed the appearance of a department store chain, representing the invested outlay of controlling families in the Orient.

    1942 March 20, John McVea, “Madame Chiang Kai-Shek”, in The Gateway, volume XXXII, number 29, Edmonton, page 5

    After Hainan separated from Guangdong to become its own province in 1988, a development boom was quickly followed by a bust that left many building projects on the island half-finished. In the last few years, Hainan has welcomed back investors and become a fashionable draw for Russian tourists looking to escape winter — entire blocks in Sanya have signs lettered in Russian for their benefit.

    2009 March 15, Bonnie Tsui, “The Surf’s Always Up in the Chinese Hawaii”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 Mar 2009, Travel
  2. An island off the coast of southern China.

    KIungcheufu lies on an Iſland, generally call'd Hainan, or is rather the Iſland it ſelf ; Hainan ſignifies, To the South of the Sea, for Nan denotes South, and Hai, The Sea.

    1671, Arnoldus Montanus, translated by John Ogilby, Atlas Chinensis, London: Tho. Johnson, translation of original in Dutch, →OCLC, page 530
    3 more examples

    Near to the Iſland Hainan are caught Whales,after the ſame manner as the Hollanders and Engliſh in the North about Greenland, whereof they make Oyl which ſerves for ſeveral uſes.

    1669, John Nievhoff, translated by John Ogilby, An Embassy from the Eaſt-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham Emperour of China, London: John Macock, page 270

    Several thousand retired servicemen on Hainan Island demonstrated against Teng Hsiao-ping's economic policies last month at the instigation of Hsu Shih-yu, deputy chairman of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Advisory Committee and a standing member of the party's Military Affairs Commission, according to an official report intercepted by the Republic of China's intelligence workers on the mainland.

    1983 March 20, “Hainan protest over Teng's economic plans”, in Free China Weekly, volume XXIV, number 11, Taipei, page 2

    On April 1, 2001, an American surveillance plane known as an EP-3 collided with a Chinese aircraft and made an emergency landing on Hainan Island. The Chinese pilot ejected from the cockpit and died. Our twenty-four-person crew was held at a military barracks on the island and interrogated. The Iranian hostage crisis was at the forefront of my mind. This was not the way I wanted to start my relationship with China.

    2010, George W. Bush, Decision Points, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 426
  3. A Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Qinghai, China. Official name: Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

    Members of the party committee of the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous District have attached great importance to implementing the correct line.

    1971 January 13 [1971 January 3], “Tsinghai Populace Studies, Implements Joint Editorial”, in Daily Report: Communist China, volume I, number 8, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, sourced from Sining Tsinghai Provincial Service, translation of original in Mandarin, →OCLC, Communist China: Northwest Region, page H 2
    1 more example

    China Central Television reported that the quake, centered in the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province, left 5,000 people homeless. Hundreds of people slept on the ground, wrapped in heavy blankets to ward off cold.

    1990 April 27, “BIG QUAKE KILLS 115 PEOPLE IN CENTRAL CHINA”, in The Washington Post, sourced from Associated Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2017
  4. A district of Wuhai, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China.
    1 more example

    Public tops play a crucial role in discovering cover-ups. For example, on 19 August 2011, the Changfu Coal Mine in Hainan District, Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia, flooded. Fearing that the mine would be closed and penalized, the mine managers organized a rescue effort by themselves and did not report the case to any relevant authorities. On 20 August, at 9:16 a.m., citizens called the police hotline of Wuhai City to report the accident.

    2022, Jie Gao, “The Fatality Quota System”, in Work Safety Regulation in China: The CCP’s Fatality Quota System (Routledge Contemporary China Series), Routledge, →DOI, →ISBN, →OCLC, page https://books.google.com/books?id=FCBiEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA2020

    Synonyms: Hainam

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounA district of Wuhai, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China.

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Origin

  1. Mandarin海南
  2. EnglishHainan

c. 1600s, from Mandarin 海南 (Hǎinán). Doublet of Hainam and Hailam.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic هَيْنَان, خَايْنَان
  • هَيْنَان (haynān)province of China
  • خَايْنَان (ḵaynān)province of China
Catalan Hainan
  • Hainanprovince of China
Chinese Cantonese 海南
  • 海南 (hoi² naam⁴)province of China
Chinese Mandarin 海南
  • 海南 (Hǎinán)province of China
Czech Chaj-nan
  • Chaj-nanprovince of China
Esperanto Hajnano
  • Hajnanoprovince of China
Finnish Hainan
  • Hainanprovince of China
French Haïnan, Hainan
  • Haïnanprovince of China
  • Hainanprovince of China
Greek Χαϊνάν
  • Χαϊνάν (Chaïnán)province of China
Hindi हाइनान
  • हाइनान (hāinān)province of China
Hungarian Hajnan
  • Hajnanprovince of China
Indonesian Hainan
  • Hainanprovince of China
Japanese 海南
  • 海南 (Kainan)province of China
Korean 하이난
  • 하이난 (Hainan)province of China
Latin Hainania
  • Hainaniaprovince of China
Latvian Hainaņa
  • Hainaņaprovince of China
Lithuanian Hainanas, Hainanis
  • Hainanasprovince of China
  • Hainanisprovince of China
Malay Hainan, Hailam
  • Hainanprovince of China
  • Hailamprovince of China
Persian هاینان
  • هاینانprovince of China
Polish Hajnan
  • Hajnanprovince of China
Portuguese Hainan
  • Hainanprovince of China
Russian Хайна́нь
  • Хайна́нь (Xajnánʹ)province of China
Swedish Hainan
  • Hainanprovince of China
Thai ไหหลำ, ไห่หนาน
  • ไหหลำ (hǎi-lǎm)province of China
  • ไห่หนานprovince of China
Vietnamese Hải Nam
  • Hải Namprovince of China

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with Hainan

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Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

Hainan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hainan

MLA

“Hainan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hainan. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Hainan,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hainan.

Source: Hainan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.