Japan (English)

Where does "Japan" come from?

The English word 'Japan' ultimately derives from the Middle Chinese '日本', meaning 'sun origin'[1][2][4]. This Sinitic term passed into Hokkien as 'Ji̍t-pún'[1][2][3][4], which was then borrowed into Malay as 'Jepang'[1][2][3][4]. European traders and missionaries encountered the word through Malay and Portuguese forms like 'Japam' or 'Japão', with possible influence from Dutch 'Japan'[1]. The name was first attested in English in 1577 as 'Giapan'[1].

Open questions

• Obsolete European forms with initial j sounds may have been influenced by Cantonese rather than other Sinitic channels. [1] [4]

Full etymology tree

• Japan (English), 'A country and archipelago of East Asia. Capital and largest city: Tokyo.'
  • borrowed Japão (Portuguese), 'Japan (a country and archipelago of East Asia)'
    • derived Jepang (Malay), 'Japan (a country and archipelago of East Asia)'
      • borrowed 日本 (Ji̍t-pún) (Hokkien)
        • derived 日本 (nyit pwonX) (Middle Chinese)
  • influenced by Japan (Dutch), 'Japan (a country and archipelago of East Asia)'
    • derived Jepang (Malay), 'Japan (a country and archipelago of East Asia)'
      • borrowed 日本 (Ji̍t-pún) (Hokkien)
        • derived 日本 (nyit pwonX) (Middle Chinese)

Ancestors

• Japan (Dutch)
• Jepang (Malay)

Cognates and doublets

• Nihon (English)
• Nippon (English)
• - (Japanese)
• Nhật Bản (Vietnamese)

Descendants and derived words

• japan (English)
• জাপান (Bengali)
• ဂျပန် (Burmese)
• Empire of Japan (English)
• Jap (English)
• Jap (English)
• Jap (English)
• Jap (English)
• japan (English)
• Japan cedar (English)
• Japan clover (English)
• Japan Current (English)

Sources

1. Japan (English) - Wiktionary
2. Japan (Dutch) - Wiktionary
3. Jepang (Malay) - Wiktionary
4. Japão (Portuguese) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris