Japan
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /d͡ʒəˈpæn/
rhymes: -æn
Forms: form: Giapan
form: Japonia
form: Japon
Etymology: Etymology tree
Hokkien 日本 /Ji̍t-púnbor.
Malay Jepangbor.
Portuguese Japãobor.
Malay Jepangbor.
Dutch Japanbor.
English Japan
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 Japam /Japão with possible influence from Dutch Japan, both from Malay Jepang, from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), from Middle Chinese 日本 (nyit pwon^X, “sun origin”).
With /j/ readings, such as Iaponia /Japonia /Japon /Iapon from possibly Cantonese 日本 (jat⁶ bun²), also from Middle Chinese 日本 (nyit pwon^X, “sun origin”).
Compare also modern Mandarin 日本 (Rìběn), Japanese 日本(にっぽん) (Nippon) / 日本(にほん) (Nihon) (whence English doublets Nippon and 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 (“Japan state”).
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 1889 Jan., Oscar Wilde, The Decay of Lying: An Observation", The Nineteenth Century
text: 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...
ref: 1985 February, Steve Jobs, interview with David Sheff, Playboy
text: 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.
ref: 2008 November 21, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 3, Episode 1
text: In particular, Kumamoto prefecture in southwestern Japan is quickly becoming a hotbed for tech investment from companies including TSMC and Fujifilm Holdings Corp (FUJIF).
ref: 2023 May 18, Reuters, “Chipmakers look to Japan as worries about China grow”, in CNN Business:
synonyms: Jap.
Jpn.
Land of the Rising Sun
Japonia
Nihon
Nippon
Yamato
State of Japan
Dawnland
glosses: A country and archipelago of East Asia. Capital and largest city: Tokyo.
wikipedia: Luís Fróis
Marco Polo
Peter C. Mancall
Derived terms: word: Empire of Japan
word: japan
taxonomic: Chimonanthus praecox
word: Japan allspice
word: Japan black
word: Japan camphor
word: Japan cedar
word: Japan clover
word: Japan Current
word: Japan earth
word: Japanese
word: Japan ink
word: Japanize
word: Japan lacquer
word: Japanology
word: Japanophile
word: Japanophilia
word: Japan rose
word: Japan tree lilac
word: Japan varnish
word: japanware
word: Jap
word: Sea of Japan
Related terms: 🗾