Japan

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See also: japan, japán, and Japán

English

A satellite image showing Japan

Alternative forms

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:

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(にっぽ​ん) (Nippo​n) / 日本(にほ​ん) (Niho​n), 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

  2. 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.

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

See also

Further reading

Afrikaans

Afrikaans Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia af

Etymology

From Dutch Japan, from Malay Jepang, from Sinitic 日本.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Japan

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia; capital: Tokio)

Derived terms

Danish

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia da

Etymology

From Dutch Japan or Portuguese Japão, from Malay Jepang, from Sinitic 日本.

Proper noun

Japan

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Descendants

Dutch

Etymology

From either or both:

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /jaːˈpɑn/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: Ja‧pan
  • Rhymes: -ɑn

Proper noun

Japan n

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Derived terms

Descendants

Faroese

Faroese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia fo

Etymology

From Danish Japan, from Dutch Japan or Portuguese Japão, from Malay Jepang, from Sinitic 日本.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Japan

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

German

Etymology

From Dutch Japan or Portuguese Japão, from Malay Jepang, from Sinitic 日本.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Japan n (proper noun, genitive Japans or (optionally with an article) Japan)

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)
    Synonym: Land der aufgehenden Sonne

Descendants

See also

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

Etymology

From English Japan.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /(d)ʒà.pân/
    • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA(key): [d͡ʒə̀.pâŋ]

Proper noun

Jàpân f

  1. Japan (a country in Asia)

Icelandic

Etymology

From Dutch Japan or Portuguese Japão, from Malay Jepang, from Sinitic 日本.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Japan n

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)
    Ég fer til Japans.
    I'm going to Japan.
    Hvar er Japan staðsett á kortinu?
    Where is Japan located on the map?

See also

Japanese

Romanization

Japan

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ジャパン

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology

From Dutch Japan or Portuguese Japão, from Malay Jepang, from Sinitic 日本.

Proper noun

Japan

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Etymology

From Dutch Japan or Portuguese Japão, from Malay Jepang, from Sinitic 日本.

Proper noun

Japan

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Dutch Japan or Portuguese Japão, from Malay Jepang, from Sinitic 日本.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /jǎpaːn/
  • Hyphenation: Ja‧pan

Proper noun

Jàpān m (Cyrillic spelling Ја̀па̄н)

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Declension

Declension of Japan
singular
nominative Japan
genitive Japana
dative Japanu
accusative Japan
vocative Japane
locative Japanu
instrumental Japanom

Swahili

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Japan

  1. Alternative form of Japani

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv

Etymology

From Dutch Japan or Portuguese Japão, from Malay Jepang, from Sinitic 日本.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Japan n (genitive Japans)

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)
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