Formosa
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /fɔːˈməʊ.sə/
ipa: /fɔɹˈmoʊ.sə/
ipa: /fɔɹˈmoʊ.zə/
rhymes: -əʊsə
Etymology: From Portuguese Formosa, as in Ilha Formosa (literally “Beautiful Island”) and Vila Formosa da Imperatriz (literally “Beautiful Town of the Empress”), from formosa (“beautiful, shapely”), from Latin fōrmōsus (“beautiful, well-formed”), from fōrma (“shape”) + -ōsus (“-ful”), literally “shapeful”.
The Brazilian city was named in honor of Empress Teresa Cristina, in the 1840s.
Senses: examples: text: Heere we had the higheſt Land of Formoſa, South-eaſt, the neereſt land about eight leagues off, the neather point of it Eaſt by North ten leagues off our depth, fortie ſixe fathomes ozie : the latitude twentie fiue degree twentie minutes. From the high Land of Formoſa, ſtretcheth out a lower Land to the water-ſide, being a white ſandy ſhoare, and ſmooth ſand Hils farther vp the Countrey, much like to the Coaſt of Barbary.
ref: 1625, Samuel Purchas, Pvrchas His Pilgrimes, volume I, London, →OCLC, page 652:
text: The Iſland Formoſa, or the fair Iſland doth alſo belong to this Province ; as likewiſe the near adjacent Iſland called Teiwan, which the Hollanders poſſeſs, who have built a Fort there called new Zealand.
ref: 1669, John Nievhoff, translated by John Ogilby, An Embassy from the Eaſt-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham Emperour of China, London: John Macock, →OCLC, page 16:
text: THE Iſland of Formoſa is about Eighty Leagues in compaſs ; ſo that the Hollanders were never in poſſeſſion of the whole Iſland, but were onely Maſters of four Fortreſſes, and two and fifty Villages, wherein they could number about fourteen or fifteen thouſand Inhabitants.
ref: 1684, A New and Particular Relation of the Kingdom of Tunquin, page 57:
text: We do not want Formosa or any part of Asia for ourselves. We believe that the future of Formosa should be settled peacefully by international action.
ref: 1950 September 1, Harry S. Truman, 3:42 from the start, in MP72-73 Korea and World Peace: President Truman Reports to the People, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives Identifier: 595162:
text: These two islands are in the area of freedom. The Nationalists have these two islands. We should not force our Nationalist allies to get off of them and give them to the Communists. If we do that, we start a chain reaction, because the Communists aren't after Quemoy and Matsu, they're after Formosa.
ref: 1960, 56:02 from the start, in Presidential Candidates Debate, Richard Nixon (actor), via C-SPAN:
text: The developing scene had ominous aspects. The Chinese Communists were constantly threatening aggressive action against Formosa and the government of Chiang Kai-shek. Ever since World War II, the United States had recognized the strategic necessity of maintaining the integrity of the Western Pacific island chain, including Formosa as one of its principal links. Our readiness to go to the defense of that island, if it were attacked, had been announced as a governmental policy before I was inaugurated, and I had personally emphasized the importance of this island's safety to our nation's security.
ref: 1963, Dwight Eisenhower, Mandate for Change 1953-1956, Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 168:
text: FORMOSA (TAIWAN) is an island separated from the southeast coast of China by the 121-mi.-wide Formosa strait (T’ai-wan hai-hsia) and one of a great island system rimming the western Pacific ocean.
ref: 1968, Norton S. Ginsburg, “FORMOSA”, in Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 9, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 627, column 2:
glosses: Synonym of Taiwan: an island of East Asia.
synonyms: word: Taiwan
extra: an island of East Asia
glosses: Synonym of Taiwan: an administrative division including Formosa and nearby islands.
A prefecture of Fujian, China (Qing Empire) (1683–1885).
examples: text: A new broom is not more active for reform than this new governor-general is in the new province of Formosa.
ref: 1887 April 6, “A Camphor Monopoly.”, in Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter, volume XXXI, number 14, →OCLC, page 56, column 1:
text: H. E. Li.—We can say in the Treaty "In respect to the province of Formosa, when the Treaty has been ratified and exchanged the two Governments shall draw up the conditions for the transfer."
ref: 1895, Verbal Discussions During Peace Negotiations Between the Chinese Plenipotentiary, Viceroy Li Hung-chang and the Japanese Plenipotentiaries Count Ito and Viscount Mutsu, at Shimonoseki, Japan, →OCLC, page 22, column 1:
text: UNTIL 1895, Formosa formed the nineteenth and only insular province of China, but after coming briefly under a Republican form of government, it became an integral part of the Empire of Japan.
ref: 1915, William Campbell, Sketches from Formosa, Marshall Brothers Limited, →OCLC, →OL, page 261:
glosses: Synonym of Taiwan: an administrative division including Formosa and nearby islands.
A province of China (Qing Empire) (1885–1895).
examples: text: Except for the relatively unimportant Ryukyu Islands, which were acquired earlier, Formosa is Japan's oldest colony. She acquired it out of her war with China in 1894, and during recent years was believed to have fortified it heavily.
ref: 1944 October 14, “Planes Over Formosa”, in The Washington Post, number 24,957, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 4, column 2:
glosses: Synonym of Taiwan: an administrative division including Formosa and nearby islands.
A dependency of Japan (1895–1945).
examples: text: Economically, the island is already far better off (with massive American aid) than it would be if it were incorporated into Communist China, and it would be better off still (and less of a burden to the American taxpayer) if its people were not required to support two governments and two civil services—one for the Chinese mainland, and the other for the province of Formosa—and an army of more than half a million, whose raison d’étre continues to be the reconquest of the mainland.
ref: 1961 January 28, The Economist, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 330, column 2; republished as Current, 1961 March, pages 22-23:
text: Government population policy has for the most part been notable for its absence, and few leading Nationalists have publicly admitted the problem. Indeed, in 1959, in an interview with a western correspondent, Chou Chih-jou, then Governor of Formosa (province), complained that population growth was “ his most serious problem ” but his administration was hamstrung by the stand taken against artificial birth control by the central government in Taipei and the ruling Nationalist party.
ref: 1963, Sheppard Glass, “Some Aspects of Formosa's Economic Growth”, in Mark Mancall, editor, Formosa Today, Frederick A. Praeger, published 1964, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 80:
text: General Chiang Kai-Shek was also very prominent in the start of the uprising, but later defected and was forced out of the country to the Province of Formosa, now called Taiwan.
ref: 1994, C.M. (Bud) Fraser, “Preface”, in China Revisited, New York: Carlton Press, Inc., →ISBN, →OCLC, page v-vi:
glosses: Synonym of Taiwan: an administrative division including Formosa and nearby islands.
A province of Taiwan (Republic of China) (from 1945).
examples: text: If we should propose an exchange of ambassadors, Mao Tse-tung would surely ask if our recognition extended to Communist sovereignty over the 'Province of Formosa.'
ref: 1961, Robert P. Newman, “Will China Accept United States Recognition?”, in Recognition of Communist China? A Study in Argument, New York: The Macmillan Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 237:
text: The armed forces of China have struck the rebellious province of Formosa with force. We demand your immediate and unconditional surrender. Failure to comply with this order will warrant further action by our forces.
ref: 1998, Caspar Weinberger, Peter Schweizer, chapter 5, in The Next War (Current Affairs), Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 52:
glosses: Synonym of Taiwan: an administrative division including Formosa and nearby islands.
A claimed province of China (People's Republic of China or mainland China) (from 1949).
glosses: A city in Goiás, Brazil.
glosses: An island of the Bissagos Islands, Guinea-Bissau.
Derived terms: Formosan