Japan

Meaning

A country and archipelago of East Asia. Capital and largest city: Tokyo.

Synonyms

Nippon

Nihon

Japanese

🇯🇵

land of the gods

Japanese Archipelago

Japanese Islands

varnish

Hiroshima

Osaka

Sapporo

land east of China

Yamato

national

𐐖𐐲𐐹𐐰𐑌

NWEC

China

dope

Italy

lacker

lacquer

Translations

Japon

🇯🇵

Japan

🇯🇵

Giappone

🇯🇵

Japón

🇯🇵

Japão

🇯🇵

اليابان

🇯🇵

Ιαπωνία

Japan

🇯🇵

Japonya

🇯🇵

Japó

🇯🇵

Iaponia

🇯🇵

Japon

Japon

Japonia

🇯🇵

Pronounced as (IPA)

/d͡ʒəˈpæn/

Etymology

Cognate with Indonesian: -

Cognate with Mandarin Chinese: 日本

Cognate with Japanese: -

Cognate with Korean: ^일본

Cognate with Vietnamese: Nhật Bản

In summary

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”).

Sentences

The other major Go association in Japan is Kansai Ki-in.