Japan
English
a satellite image showing Japan
Etymology
First attested in English as Giapan in Richard Willes's 1577 The History of Travayle in the West and East Indies (cited in Peter C. Mancall's Travel Narratives from the Age of Discovery, pp. 156–57), translating a 19 February 1565 letter of the Portuguese Jesuit missionary Luís Fróis as "Of the Ilande of Giapan".
Borrowed from Portuguese Japão with possible influence from Dutch Japan, both from either or both:
- Malay Jepun, from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puənX, “sun origin”).
- Indonesian Malay Jepang, from Teochew 日本 (Ji̍k-púng), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puənX, “sun origin”).
With /j/ readings, such as Iaponia / Japonia or Japon / Iapon from Cantonese 日本 (jat6 bun2), also from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puənX, “sun origin”).
Compare also modern Mandarin 日本 (Rìběn), Japanese 日本 (Nippon) / 日本 (Nihon), Korean 일본 (Ilbon) (日本), Vietnamese Nhật Bản (日本).
The earliest form of Japan in Europe was Marco Polo's Cipangu, from some form of synonymous Sinitic 日本國／日本国 (Rìběnguó, “nation of Japan”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /d͡ʒəˈpæn/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -æn
Proper noun
Japan
- A country and archipelago in East Asia
- Synonyms: Jap., Jpn., Land of the Rising Sun, Japonia, Nihon, Nippon, Yamato, State of Japan
- 1889 Jan., Oscar Wilde, The Decay of Lying: An Observation", The Nineteenth Century:
- Vivian: If you set a picture by Hokusai, or Hokkei, or any of the great native painters, beside a real Japanese gentleman or lady, you will see that there is not the slightest resemblance between them. The actual people who live in Japan are not unlike the general run of English people; that is to say, they are extremely commonplace, and have nothing curious or extraordinary about them. In fact the whole of Japan is a pure invention. There is no such country, there are no such people... if you desire to see a Japanese effect, you will not behave like a tourist and go to Tokio. On the contrary, you will stay at home and steep yourself in the work of certain Japanese artists, and then, when you have absorbed the spirit of their style, and caught their imaginative manner of vision, you will go some afternoon and sit in the Park or stroll down Piccadilly, and if you cannot see an absolutely Japanese effect there, you will not see it anywhere.
- 1985 February, Steve Jobs, interview with David Sheff, Playboy:
- Japan’s very interesting. Some people think it copies things. I don’t think that anymore. I think what they do is reinvent things. They will get something that’s already been invented and study it until they thoroughly understand it. In some cases, they understand it better than the original inventor... That strategy works only when what they’re working with isn’t changing very much—the stereo industry and the automobile industry are two examples. When the target is moving quickly, they find it very difficult...
- 2008 November 21, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 3, Episode 1:
- Nolan: You do know Japan have expressed concern?
Douglas: What, the whole country?
Nolan: No, not the whole... Mr Yamamoto.
Douglas: He's important, isn't he?
Nolan: He's the major shareholder.
- Nolan: You do know Japan have expressed concern?
Derived terms
- Empire of Japan
- japan
- Japan allspice (Chimonanthus praecox)
- Japan black
- Japan camphor
- Japan cedar
- Japan clover
- Japan earth
- Japanese
- Japan ink
- Japanize
- Japan lacquer
- Japanology
- Japanophile
- Japanophilia
- Japan rose
- Japan varnish
- japanware
- Jap (derogatory)
- Sea of Japan
Descendants
Translations
a country in East Asia
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See also
- 🗾
- Appendix:Countries of the world
- (countries of Asia) country of Asia; Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, East Timor, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen
- (prefectures of Japan) Japan; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gunma, Hiroshima, Hokkaidō, Hyōgo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kōchi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Ōita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi
Further reading
Japan on Wikipedia.Wikipedia 
Japan on Wikiquote.Wikiquote 
Japan on Wikivoyage.Wikivoyage 
Category:Japan on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
Afrikaans
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Danish
Descendants
- → Faroese: Japan
Dutch
Etymology
From either or both:
- Malay Jepun, from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puənX, “sun origin”).
- Indonesian Malay Jepang, from Teochew 日本 (Ji̍k-púng), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puənX, “sun origin”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jaːˈpɑn/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: Ja‧pan
- Rhymes: -ɑn
Descendants
- Afrikaans: Japan
- See further descendants at Portuguese Japão.
Faroese
Etymology
From Danish Japan, from Dutch Japan or Portuguese Japão, from Malay Jepang, from Sinitic 日本.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈjaːpan/
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈjaːpan/
audio (file) audio (file)
Descendants
- Ladin: Iapan
Further reading
- “Japan” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “Japan” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “Japan” in Duden online
- Japan on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de
Hausa
Icelandic
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈjaːpʰan/
Proper noun
Japan n
Norwegian Bokmål
Norwegian Nynorsk
Serbo-Croatian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jǎpaːn/
- Hyphenation: Ja‧pan
Swedish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /¹jɑːpan/
Audio (file)
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