Cantonese

noun

Can·​ton·​ese ˌkan-tə-ˈnēz 

-ˈnēs

plural Cantonese

1

: a native or inhabitant of Guangzhou, China

2

: the dialect of Chinese spoken in Guangzhou and Hong Kong

3

: a style of Chinese cooking that emphasizes fresh ingredients, subtle tastes, and relatively mild sauces

Cantonese adjective

Examples of Cantonese in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Speaking in the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Chen demonstrated how to navigate one of the city's voting machines, which — because of a Voting Rights Act requirement — must display touch-screen menus in Chinese and Spanish in addition to English. —Hansi Lo Wang, NPR, 2 Apr. 2024

The English, Cantonese and Hindi-language project is budgeted at $1.2 million. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 12 Mar. 2024

Some stores tailor their advertising by using Cantonese, Hong Kong’s local Chinese language, to draw tourists into their shops. —Olivia Wang, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2024

It was conducted online and over the phone Dec. 4-11 in languages English, the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Vietnamese and Korean. —Kimmy Yam, NBC News, 2 Feb. 2024

Similarly, funding can go to productions that are majority-foreign owned or made in a European or Asian language other than English, Mandarin or Cantonese. —Patrick Frater, Variety, 17 Feb. 2024

Kevin Lee, 37, said the performance can be an avenue for young people to engage with their heritage in ways that feel less like work than learning Cantonese or Mandarin. —Marisa Iati, Washington Post, 9 Feb. 2024

Shanghai native Tony Tao oversees an extensive menu that leans to Shanghainese cuisine and the surrounding Jiangnan region but also wanders at will into Cantonese and Sichuan specialties and imagined dimensions beyond. —Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 8 Feb. 2024

No Lunar New Year preparation would be complete without the aforementioned hanging of red banners bearing auspicious phrases and idioms (called fai chun in Cantonese, or chunlian, in Mandarin) at home – beginning with one’s front door. —Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 8 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Canton Guangzhou, ultimately from Portuguese Cantão, from Chinese (Guangzhou) Gwóngdūng Guangdong

First Known Use

1857, in the meaning defined at sense 1