Chinaboy

English

Alternative forms

• China boy
• China-boy

Etymology

From China +‎ boy; compare Chinaman (etymology).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃaɪnəbɔɪ/

Noun

Chinaboy (plural Chinaboys)

1. (obsolete, now offensive, ethnic slur) A boy who is Chinese; a (young) man from China or of Chinese descent.
   • 1857, Herman Melville, chapter XXII, in The Confidence-Man‎^[1], page 181:

     I speak from fifteen years' experience; five and thirty boys; American, Irish, English, German, African, Mulatto; not to speak of that China boy sent me by one who well knew my perplexities, from California; and that Lascar boy from Bombay.

   • 1898, Fergus Hume, chapter IV, in Hagar of the Pawn-Shop‎^[2]:

     In answer to their knock, a sleek, soft-footed China-boy, dressed in a blue indigo-hued blouse and with his pigtail down, appeared to admit them.

2. (obsolete, now offensive) A houseboy from China or of Chinese descent.
   • 1942, Emily Carr, “British Columbia Nightingale”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:

     Lizzie, Alice and I were playing in the garden when our Chinaboy Bong came down the path—that is how I know exactly what time of evening it was that this new noise set me wondering, because Bong was very punctual.