Japan Meaning

/d͡ʒəˈpæn/
B1

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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nounA hard black enamel varnish containing asphalt.

nameA country in East Asia. Capital and largest city: Tokyo.

I wish I could go to Japan.
Japan is full of beautiful cities. Kyoto and Nara, for instance.
Japan has pledged $100 million in humanitarian aid.
CEFR Practice Quiz
____ is an island nation in Asia known for its technology and sushi.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
____ is an island country in East Asia that is known for its beautiful culture and advanced technology.

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”).

"In particular, Kumamoto prefecture in southwestern Japan is quickly becoming a hotbed for tech investment from companies including TSMC and Fujifilm Holdings Corp (FUJIF)." — 2023 May 18, Reuters, “Chipmakers look to Japan as worries about China grow”, in CNN Business:
"My own apartment, however, I was allowed to enter; and very pretty, I must say, it is. It is hung with Indian-silk, where the brightest of birds, and the gayest of flowers, disport themselves on a white ground. The screens and dressing-table are of black japan, while the mirror is set in exquisite silver filigree work, of which material are also the boxes of my toilette." — 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Much Change in a Little Time”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 64:
"Among other monstrosities in this lumber room was a largeish black japanned box, excellently and ingeniously made some sixty or seventy years ago, and fitted with every imaginable object." — 1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter XI, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, [Germany?]: Privately printed, →OCLC, page 241:
"A Zoetrope in the same sale fetched 26 guineas. The revolving drum, 12 inches in diameter, was black japanned, on a turned wooden base, and there were many coloured strips." — 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 183:
"Jack, hearing that I was in this part of the world, sent me a very hearty letter, informing me, that he had been double-japanned (as he called it) about a year ago, and was the present incumbent of — […]" — 1826, George Colman, The Connoisseur, page 179:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
____ is an island nation in Asia known for its technology and sushi.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
____ is an island country in East Asia that is known for its beautiful culture and advanced technology.

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