Asian: the Asiatic reaches of the Soviet Union; a tropical Asiatic plant.
n.
Often Offensive. An Asian.
USAGE NOTE As with Oriental, the use of Asiatic in referring to the peoples and cultures of Asia sounds conspicuously dated in contemporary American English, tending to evoke the prejudicial and offensive stereotypes of an earlier era. The preferred ethnic term is now clearly Asian. In most other contexts, however, as in Asiatic Russia or the Asiatic elephant, the term remains a neutral geographic descriptor that need not automatically be replaced with Asian. See Usage Notes at Oriental.
