Taiwan
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌtaɪ̯ˈwɑn/
ipa: /ˌtɑɪ̯ˈwan/
ipa: /ˌtaɪ̯ˈwɑːn/
ipa: /ˌtaɪ̯ˈwæn/
ipa: /ˌtaɪ̯ˈwɒn/
ipa: /ˌt̪aɪ̯ˈwan̪/
enpr: tīʹwänʹ
rhymes: -ɑːn
rhymes: -æn
rhymes: -ɒn
Forms: form: Taïwan
form: Tai-wan
form: T'ai-wan
form: Tywan
form: Taywan
form: Tay-wan
form: Tayuan
form: Tayoan
form: Tayouan
Etymology: The specific form "Taiwan" in English emerged from the Wade–Giles Tʻai²-wan¹ romanization of Mandarin 臺灣／台湾 (Táiwān), and also perhaps the romaji of Japanese 臺灣(たいわん) (taiwan), both of which are ultimately from Literary Chinese 臺灣, from Hokkien 大員 (Tāi-oân), 大圓, 臺員, 大灣, 臺灣, and other forms, a placename initially referring to a sandbank peninsula that later silted up; now wholly part of the island in the area of modern-day Anping District, Tainan, and eventually became the name of the entire island. The original placename itself was originally likely the transcription of a loanword from Siraya.
Cognate with Dutch Tayouan / Taioan / Taiwan / etc., and other early variant forms of Hokkien 臺窩灣 /台窝湾 (Tâi-o-oân), etc.
The name is sometimes folk-etymologized to have originally meant "terraced bay" (臺灣 /台湾), "great bay" (大灣 /大湾), or similar parsings from interpretations of the Chinese characters alone.
Senses: examples: text: India was not alone in its predicament or in its policy. While a few developing countries like Taiwan, Mexico, and Thailand had made remarkable progress in agriculture and had experienced success in curbing their population increases, others were nearly as bad off as India, even without a drought.
ref: 1971, Lyndon Johnson, “Feeding the Hungry: India's Food Crisis”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 224:
text: Pei Ling Wu, 30, said: "I am worried about my family, but they do not want to leave Taiwan. They want to defend their country and fight to the end. If China continues to push us, independence is the only solution."
ref: 1996 March 15, Leyla Linton, “London students sing their defiance”, in The Times, number 65,528, →ISSN, →OCLC, Overseas News, page 14, column 2:
text: Taiwan carried out an unprecedented military drill Tuesday, a day ahead of its National Day celebrations, in Taoyuan in northern parts of the country.
The drill was attended by Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, and President of Paraguay Mario Abdo Benitez, who is on a state visit to Taiwan until Thursday.
ref: 2018 October 9, “Taiwan conducts massive military drills ahead of National Day”, in EFE, archived from the original on 18 Aug 2022:
text: "We come here from the United States bringing a message from the Congress of commitment, of long-term friendship and a determination that a free country like Taiwan absolutely has the right to remain free and preserve self-determination," Wicker said.
Beijing, which regularly denounces any shows of support for Taipei from Washington, repeated its opposition to Wicker's trip. China firmly opposes any official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan, the country's foreign ministry said.
ref: 2025 August 29, Fabian Hamacher, Ben Blanchard, quoting Roger Wicker, “Taiwan has right to be free and 'preserve self-determination', senior US senator says”, in Stephen Coates, Frances Kerry, editors, Reuters, archived from the original on 29 Aug 2025:
synonyms: Chinese Taipei
Republic of China
ROC
Formosa
Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu
;
mul:TW
mul:TWN
glosses: A partly-recognized country in East Asia consisting of a main island and 167 smaller islands. Official name: Republic of China. Capital: Taipei.
examples: text: The Government claims suzerainty over and receives tribute more or less regularly from Corea, and also from Anam, Siam, Burmah, and part of the Loochoo Islands, and it has recently erected the beautiful and extensive Island of Formosa, or Taiwan, hitherto attached to the province of Fo-Kien, into a separate province with its own governor-general who, like those of the other provinces, is appointed directly from Peking.
ref: 1888, James Harrison Wilson, chapter III, in China: Travels and Investigations in the "Middle Kingdom": A Study of Its Civilization and Possibilites, →OCLC, page 26:
text: The Pescadores or Hoko islands, lying between Formosa (Taiwan) and the Chinese coast, are described by Koto (Notes on the Geology of the dependent isles of Taiwan, Journ. Coll. Sci., Imp. Univ., Tokyo, xiii, 1899, pt. 1) as the ragged remnants of a series of nearly horizontal basalt sheets with intercalated strata of supposed Tertiary age.
ref: 1900 June 1, W. M. Davis, “Current Notes on Physiography.”, in Science, volume XI, number 283, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 871, column 2:
text: As a result of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, China lost to Japan the important islands of Taiwan (Formosa) and the Pescadores, lying about a hundred miles off the Chinese coast.
ref: 1963, Dwight Eisenhower, “Formosa Doctrine”, in Mandate for Change 1953-1956, Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 460:
synonyms: Formosa
glosses: An island between the Taiwan Strait and Philippine Sea in East Asia.
examples: text: TAIWAN, or Chinese Formosa, is considered a Foo or district of the province of Fokien, and is governed by a Taoutai extraordinary, who, though responsible to the provincial viceroy, possesses the privilege of memorialising the Throne direct. “The district of Taiwan,” says the Chinese Government Chart, of which a copy was supplied to me by the Formosan authorities, “is bounded in the rear by mountains, and in front by the sea. The ancestral hills of Formosa derive their origin from the Woo-hoo-mun (Five Tiger Gate), the entrance to Foochow, whence they glided across the sea. In the ocean towards the east are two places called Tungkwan (Damp Limit) and Pih-mow (White Acre), which mark the spots where the dragons of the Formosan hills emerged. These sacred reptiles had pierced unseen the depths of ocean, and announcing their ascent to the surface by throwing up the bluff at Kelung-head, by a number of violent contortions heaved up the regular series of hills, valleys, and plains that extend north and south in varied undulations for the space of 1000 leagues (applied figuratively). The mountain-peaks are too multitudinous to enumerate, and the geography of the island too comprehensive to take into present consideration ; we will therefore confine ourselves to a few general remarks. In rear of the hills, eastward, flows the ocean ; facing them, to the westward, is the sea ; and between lies the prefecture of Taiwan.”
ref: 1864, Robert Swinhoe, “Notes on the Island of Formosa.”, in The Journal of the Royal Geographic Society of London, volume XXXIV, London: John Murray, published 1865, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6:
text: THE PESCADORES, consisting of over twenty inhabited islands, besides several inlets and rocks, lie off the south-western coast of Formosa at a minimum distance of about twenty-five miles, and the entire group is set down on the charts as extending from latitude 23° 12′ to 23° 47′ N., and from longitude 119° 19′ to 119° 41′ E. They form together the Dashing Lake District or Ting, 澎湖廳, of the Taiwan Prefecture, and are placed under the control of resident civil and military mandarins who report to their superior officers at Taiwanfoo.
ref: 1887 February, W. Campbell, “A Few Notes from the Pescadores.”, in Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal, volume XVIII, number 2, Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, →OCLC, page 62:
text: In effect each area paid an assigned land tax quota, which was allocated among households — depending upon the amount of land they owned and registered with the land tax office. Households paid this tax in silver, and by 1736 the state collected this kind of land tax in all provinces except Shansi, Taiwan prefecture (part of Fukien province), and Kweichow.
ref: 1980, Ramon H. Myers, “The Public Sector: The State”, in The Chinese Economy Past and Present, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 78–79:
text: President Ma further noted that in 1683 during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) the emperor formally included the Diaoyutais as territory of China in Taiwan Prefecture, Fujian Province. In 1812, the Diaoyutais were placed under the administration of the Kavalan Office of the Taiwan prefectural government, he added, pointing out that the Record of Missions to Taiwan and Adjacent Waters 《臺海使槎錄》 and the Illustrations of Taiwan 《全臺圖説》 prove that China effectively ruled over the Diaoyutai Islets during the Qing Dynasty.
ref: 2016 [2014 April 17], “President Ma Attends "Examining the Diaoyutai/Senkaku Islands Dispute under New and Multiple Perspectives" International Conference”, in Ma Ying-jeou, editor, Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs, volume 32 (2014), Brill Nijhoff, →ISBN, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 281:
synonyms: Formosa
glosses: A former administrative division including Taiwan and nearby islands.
A former prefecture of Fujian province in China (Qing Empire) (1683–1885).
examples: text: In 1885 Governor LIU determined to reconstruct Taipei and make it the temporary capital until, the railway having on its way to Taiwan reached the old town of Changhua, in about the middle of Formosa, he should build a city near that place and make it, under the name of Taiwan, the capital of the province of Taiwan.
ref: 1896, J. D. Clark, Formosa, Shanghai: Shanghai Mercury, →OCLC, page 44:
text: Near Bang-ka is Twa-tu-tia, the great center of the tea-trade of Formosa, and the capital of the province of Taiwan (i. e. Formosa) from 1885 to 1896.
ref: 1898, “Bang-ka, or Mang-ka”, in Johnson's Universal Cyclopædia: A New Edition, volume I, New York: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 480, column 2:
text: The Chinese forces holding Formosa numbered about 50,000 men, and its defence was ably conducted by Liu Ming-chüan, then imperial High Commissioner ad hoc afterwards first governor of the newly created province of Taiwan.
ref: 1918, Hosea Ballou Morse, “France and Tongking”, in The International Relations of the Chinese Empire, volume II, Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 861:
synonyms: Formosa
glosses: A former administrative division including Taiwan and nearby islands.
A former province of China (Qing Empire) (1885–1895).
examples: text: Taiwan (Formosa) and Hōkotō (the Pescadores) were ceded to Japan upon the close of the Chinese War of 1895. Taiwan has a Governor-General with extreme powers, and is now an integral part of Japan.
ref: 1902, “Appendix”, in The Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Malta, St Helena, Barbados, Cyrpus, the Channel Islands, the British Army & Navy (The British Empire Series), volume V, →OCLC, page 649:
text: Taiwan is governed by a Governor-General. Since 1895 three Governors have resigned. The present in office is General Count Samata Sakuma.
ref: 1913, Charlotte M. Salwey, “Formosa, the Beautiful (Taiwan)”, in The Island Dependencies of Japan, London: Eugène L. Morice, →OCLC, page 39:
text: Amoy is one of the three Chinese ports closer to the Japanese colony of Taiwan (Formosa) than are any ports in the Japanese Empire proper.
ref: 1938 July 29, “Amoy is Island Key to South China's Strategic Province”, in The Winchester Star, volume LVIII, number 1, Winchester, Mass., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 5:
synonyms: Formosa
glosses: A former administrative division including Taiwan and nearby islands.
A former dependency of Japan (1895–1945).
examples: text: Recent reports from Taiwan (Formosa), although fragmentary, begin to give a picture of economic conditions following the conclusion of the war. Now officially referred to as Taiwan Province, the island's former Japanese administration is being replaced by Chinese officials with little change, at least as yet, in the administrative pattern. Although there is no indication that ideographs will be changed, Chinese readings rather than Japanese will be followed for place names. Taihoku, for example, will be read in our alphabet as Taipei. This city presumably will continue to be the capital of Taiwan.
ref: 1946 February 16, “China”, in Foreign Commerce Weekly, volume XXII, number 7, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, United States Department of Commerce, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 26, column 2:
text: The Chinese Government today, with its program of local self-government in Taiwan, provides a revealing contrast to the Communist totalitarian "democratic dictatorship" on the mainland. Herein lies the foundation for our eventual victory against Communism.
ref: 1957, Chiang Chung-cheng (Kai-shek), Soviet Russia in China: A Summing-up at Seventy, New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 239–240:
text: By all accounts, Lee lacks Chiang's charisma. The son of a rice farmer from northern Taiwan, he trained as an agronomist at Cornell University, then served as mayor of Taipei and governor of Taiwan Province, where he won widespread popularity.
ref: 1988 January 25, Fay Willey, Carroll Bogert, Dorinda Elliott, David Newell, “End of a Dynasty and an Era”, in Newsweek, volume CXI, number 4, →ISSN, →OCLC, International, page 34, column 3:
text: In August 1993, I began preparing to run in the first race for mayor of Taipei elected directly by popular vote, to be held in December 1994. At the same time, the positions of mayor of Kaohsiung City and governor of Taiwan Province were also up for direct popular election.
ref: 2000, Chen Shui-Bian, “From Elected Representative to Administrative Chief”, in David J. Toman, transl., The Son of Taiwan: The Life of Chen Shui-Bian and His Dreams for Taiwan, Taiwan Publishing Co., Ltd., →ISBN, →OCLC, page 84:
text: The participants then marched to several sites where other major incidents had occurred, and they ended at the Executive Yuan building, which was formerly the headquarters of the Taiwan Provincial Government.
ref: 2022 February 28, Chiang Yi-ching, Teng Pei-ju, “Civil groups march in Taipei, demand truth about 228 Incident”, in Focus Taiwan, archived from the original on 28 Feb 2022:
synonyms: Formosa
glosses: A former administrative division including Taiwan and nearby islands.
A province of Taiwan (Republic of China) (from 1945).
examples: text: The eastern part of Taiwan Province is washed by the Pacific Ocean while the mainland coast borders on the Pohai, the Yellow, the East China and the South China Seas, each with its different depth and water temperature.
ref: 1964, 任育地 [Jen Yu-ti], “Seas”, in 中国地理概述 [A Concise Geography of China], Peking: Foreign Languages Press, →OCLC, →OL, pages 42–43:
english: A Concise Geography of China
translation: A Concise Geography of China
text: China (excluding Taiwan Province) has 381 cities as of the end of 1987, including 3 provincial-level cities, 170 provincially administered cities and 208 township-level cities. In addition there are 1,985 counties (including autonomous counties, banners and autonomous banners) in China.
ref: 1992, Zhou Shunwu (周舜武), “Overview”, in 中国分省地理 [China Provincial Geography], Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 499:
english: China Provincial Geography
translation: China Provincial Geography
text: I had my final meeting with Deng Xiaoping. We signed agreements concerning consular offices, trade, science and technology, cultural exchange, and so forth. After discussing the political problems I had in normalization, Zbig asked him, "Did you have political opposition in China?" Everybody listened very carefully when Deng said, "Yes, I had serious opposition in one province in China—Taiwan."
ref: 2011 [1979 January 31], Jimmy Carter, White House Diary, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 286:
synonyms: Formosa
glosses: A former administrative division including Taiwan and nearby islands.
A claimed province of China (People's Republic of China/mainland China) (from 1949).
qualifier: disputed
examples: text: The ports of Cháu-chau or Swatau, in the province of Kwangtung, and Taiwan on Formosa in the province of Fuhkien, will be opened to American commerce, and for Americans to reside with their families, on and after the first day of January, 1860.
ref: 1862 [1859], John E. Ward, “Proclamation of JOHN E. WARD announcing exchange of ratifications of Treaty”, in Treaties between the United States of America and China, Japan Lewchew and Siam, Acts of Congress, and the Attorney-General's Opinion, with the Decrees and Regulations Issued for the Guidance of U.S. Consular Courts in China, Hongkong, →OCLC, page 22:
text: In 1860 Mr. Swinhoe attended Gen. Napier, and afterwards Sir Hope Grant, the Commander-in-Chief, as interpreter, and received a medal for war service. At the end of the same year he was appointed Vice-Consul at Taiwan, Formosa, and in 1865 to the full Consulship.
ref: 1877 November 8, “Robert Swinhoe, F.R.S.”, in Nature, volume XVII, number 419, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 35, column 2:
text: Evidently the French blockade of Formosa is not very effective, or else the Pescadores are not included in the blockaded district. The Daily Press of 31st December states:—We learn by private letter that there have been no blockading ships at Taiwan or at Takao during the last seven days. The blockade is a purely paper one. Troops and treasure are pouring into South Formosa.
ref: 1885 January 7, “Summary of News”, in North-China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette, volume XXXIV, number 913, Shanghai, →OCLC, page 4, column 2:
text: In 1885 Governor LIU determined to reconstruct Taipei and make it the temporary capital until, the railway having on its way to Taiwan reached the old town of Changhua, in about the middle of Formosa, he should build a city near that place and make it, under the name of Taiwan, the capital of the province of Taiwan.
ref: 1896, J. D. Clark, Formosa, Shanghai: Shanghai Mercury, →OCLC, page 44:
glosses: Synonym of Tainan, a city of Taiwan, former capital of Taiwan Province.
synonyms: word: Tainan
extra: a city of Taiwan, former capital of Taiwan Province
examples: text: For the Massalia family, we only have information on (20) Massalia (pv = 0.21±0.01). Finally, for the Astrid family, we have (1128) Astrid with pv = 0.077±0.010 and (2169) Taiwan with pv = 0.099±0.020. In each of these cases, the values conform to the taxonomic type of the corresponding families.
ref: 2005, D. Vokrouhlický et al., “Yarkovsky/YORP chronology of asteroid families”, in Icarus, volume 182, number 1, published 2006, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 126, column 2:
text: 2169 Taiwan, a carbonaceous asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars, will be at its closest to Earth at around 11 p.m. Thursday, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said.
ref: 2019 August 29, “Asteroid 'Taiwan' to come closest to Earth late Thursday: museum”, in Focus Taiwan, archived from the original on 10 Sep 2022, Science & Tech:
topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
glosses: 2169 Taiwan, a main belt asteroid.
Derived terms: Taiwanese
Taiwan field mouse
Taiwan firecrest
Taiwan flamecrest
Taiwan pear
Taiwan Strait
Taiwan Straits
Taiwan studies
West Taiwan
Related terms: Countries of the world