圖片來源：學習強國

古代居住于中原地區的漢民族先民的自稱。最早稱“華”“諸華”或“夏”“諸夏”。“華夏”實際表達的是以漢民族為主體的中原先民對其共同的生活、語言、文化特征的一種認同和傳承。秦建立以華夏為主體的統一的多民族國家以後，華夏才成為比較穩定的族群。自漢代以後，華夏又有了“漢”這一名稱與之并用。後來華夏進一步引申為指中國或漢族。

The forefathers of the Han people living in the Central Plains referred to themselves by this term. Earlier on they called themselves Hua (華), Zhuhua (諸華), Xia (夏) or Zhuxia (諸夏). The term Huaxia (華夏) embodies the common identity of the way of life, language, and culture of the people living in the Central Plains, mainly the Han people, and the inheritance of such identity. The Huaxia people evolved into a fairly stable ethnic group in the Qin Dynasty, which established a unified country of many ethnic groups with Huaxia being the principal group. In the Han Dynasty, the term Han became an alternative name of Huaxia. Later, the term Huaxia was extended to refer to China or the Han people.

◎夏，大也。中國有禮義之大，故稱夏；有服章之美，謂之華。華夏一也。（《左傳·定公十年》孔穎達正義）

夏的含義是“大”。華夏族的禮儀宏富偉大，所以稱為“夏”；華夏族的衣服華美出衆，所以稱為“華”。“華”與“夏”是同一個意思。

The Chinese character 夏 (xia) means big and great. Since the ancient Huaxia people practiced grand and elaborate rituals, they called themselves Xia (great). Their dresses were resplendent, so they were referred to as Hua (splendid). Therefore, both Hua and Xia refer to the Han people. (Kong Yingda: Correct Meaning of Zuo's Commentary on The Spring and Autumn Annals)

（推薦：教育部 國家語委 供稿：北京外國語大學 外語教學與研究出版社）