What is "pride of china"

Azedarach \A*zed"a*rach\, azederach \azederach\, n. [F. az['e]darac, Sp. acederaque, Pers. [=a]z[=a]ddirakht noble tree.]

1. (Bot.) a handsome tree ( Melia azedarach) of the mahogany family, native to Northern India and China, having long clusters of fragrant purple blossoms and small ornamental but inedible yellow fruits. It has been naturalized as a shade tree and is common in the southern United States; -- called also, chinaberry, China tree, Pride of India, Pride of China, and Bead tree.

   Syn: chinaberry, chinaberry tree, China tree, Persian lilac, pride-of-India, azedarach, Melia azederach, Melia azedarach

2. (Med.) The bark of the roots of the azedarach, used as a cathartic and emetic.

China \Chi"na\, n.

1. A country in Eastern Asia.

2. China ware, which is the modern popular term for porcelain. See Porcelain. China aster (Bot.), a well-known garden flower and plant. See Aster. China bean. See under Bean, 1. China clay See Kaolin. China grass, Same as Ramie. China ink. See India ink. China pink (Bot.), an anual or biennial species of Dianthus ( Dianthus Chiensis) having variously colored single or double flowers; Indian pink. China root (Med.), the rootstock of a species of Smilax ( Smilax China, from the East Indies; -- formerly much esteemed for the purposes that sarsaparilla is now used for. Also the galanga root (from Alpinia Gallanga and Alpinia officinarum). China rose. (Bot.)

   1. A popular name for several free-blooming varieties of rose derived from the Rosa Indica, and perhaps other species.

   2. A flowering hothouse plant ( Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis) of the Mallow family, common in the gardens of China and the east Indies.

      China shop, a shop or store for the sale of China ware or of crockery.

      Pride of China, China tree. (Bot.) See Azedarach.

Margosa \Mar*go"sa\, n. [Pg. amargoso bitter.] (Bot.) A large tree of the genus Melia ( Melia Azadirachta) found in India. Its bark is bitter, and used as a tonic. A valuable oil is expressed from its seeds, and a tenacious gum exudes from its trunk. The Melia Azedarach is a much more showy tree, and is cultivated in the Southern United States, where it is known as Pride of India, Pride of China, or bead tree. Various parts of the tree are considered anthelmintic.

The margosa oil . . . is a most valuable balsam for wounds, having a peculiar smell which prevents the attacks of flies.
--Sir S. Baker.

Pride \Pride\, n. [AS. pr[=y]te; akin to Icel. pr[=y][eth]i honor, ornament, pr??a to adorn, Dan. pryde, Sw. pryda; cf. W. prydus comely. See Proud.]

1. The quality or state of being proud; inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable conceit of one's own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, rank, etc., which manifests itself in lofty airs, distance, reserve, and often in contempt of others.

   Those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
   --Dan. iv. 37.

   Pride that dines on vanity sups on contempt.
   --Franklin.

2. A sense of one's own worth, and abhorrence of what is beneath or unworthy of one; lofty self-respect; noble self-esteem; elevation of character; dignified bearing; proud delight; -- in a good sense.

   Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride.
   --Goldsmith.

   A people which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendants.
   --Macaulay.

3. Proud or disdainful behavior or treatment; insolence or arrogance of demeanor; haughty bearing and conduct; insolent exultation; disdain.

   Let not the foot of pride come against me.
   --Ps. xxxvi. 11.

   That hardly we escaped the pride of France.
   --Shak.

4. That of which one is proud; that which excites boasting or self-gratulation; the occasion or ground of self-esteem, or of arrogant and presumptuous confidence, as beauty, ornament, noble character, children, etc.

   Lofty trees yclad with summer's pride.
   --Spenser.

   I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
   --Zech. ix. 6.

   A bold peasantry, their country's pride.
   --Goldsmith.

5. Show; ostentation; glory.

   Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war.
   --Shak.

6. Highest pitch; elevation reached; loftiness; prime; glory; as, to be in the pride of one's life.

   A falcon, towering in her pride of place.
   --Shak.

7. Consciousness of power; fullness of animal spirits; mettle; wantonness; hence, lust; sexual desire; esp., an excitement of sexual appetite in a female beast. [Obs.]

   Pride of India, or Pride of China. (Bot.) See Margosa.

   Pride of the desert (Zo["o]l.), the camel.

   Syn: Self-exaltation; conceit; hauteur; haughtiness; lordliness; loftiness.

   Usage: Pride, Vanity. Pride is a high or an excessive esteem of one's self for some real or imagined superiority, as rank, wealth, talents, character, etc. Vanity is the love of being admired, praised, exalted, etc., by others. Vanity is an ostentation of pride; but one may have great pride without displaying it. Vanity, which is etymologically ``emptiness,'' is applied especially to the exhibition of pride in superficialities, as beauty, dress, wealth, etc.