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

For six decades, Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine was a cultural crossroads. —Troy Aidan Sambajon, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Dec. 2024

Kirin’s owners, the Ip family, are Chinese-Venezuelan restaurateurs who previously ran Gold Marquess Cantonese restaurant in Pembroke Pines until retiring in 2022. —Rod Stafford Hagwood, Sun Sentinel, 20 Nov. 2024

The projects represent a linguistic mosaic, including Hindi, English, Assamese, Tamil, Marwari, Bengali, Malayalam, Punjabi, Nepali, Marathi, Pahadi, and Cantonese, demonstrating the market’s growing international appeal. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 22 Oct. 2024

Sutro students would be assigned to Lafayette, Alamo or the Chinese Immersion School for the Cantonese biliteracy program. —Shawna Chen, Axios, 9 Oct. 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