Where does “Japan” come from?
Japan comes from Dutch Japan, from Portuguese Japão, from Chinese 日本 (rìběn), ultimately from Min Nan 日本.
Ancestry of “Japan”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Dutch | Japan | — |
| 2 | Malay | Jepang | Japanese |
| 3 | Hokkien | 日本 | Japan; Japanese; Japan |
| 4 | Middle Chinese | 日本 | Land of the Rising Sun |
Words derived from “Japan”