Japan

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See also: japan, japán, and Japán

English[edit]

a satellite image showing Japan

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

  • IPA(key): /d͡ʒəˈpæn/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -æn

Proper noun[edit]

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[edit]

Descendants[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Afrikaans[edit]

Afrikaans Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia af

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

Japan

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

Derived terms[edit]

Danish[edit]

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia da

Etymology[edit]

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

Proper noun[edit]

Japan

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Related terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From either or both:

Pronunciation[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

Japan n

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

Faroese[edit]

Faroese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia fo

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

Japan

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Related terms[edit]

German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

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[edit]

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • “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[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English Japan.

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Proper noun[edit]

Jàpân f

  1. Japan (a country in Asia)

Icelandic[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

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[edit]

Japanese[edit]

Romanization[edit]

Japan

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ジャパン

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology[edit]

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

Proper noun[edit]

Japan

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Related terms[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Etymology[edit]

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

Proper noun[edit]

Japan

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Related terms[edit]

Serbo-Croatian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Proper noun[edit]

Jàpān m (Cyrillic spelling Ја̀па̄н)

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Declension[edit]

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

Swahili[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

Japan

  1. Alternative form of Japani

Swedish[edit]

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

Japan n (genitive Japans)

  1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Related terms[edit]

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