Where does “Taiwan” come from?

Taiwan derives from Dutch Tayouan, which was used by Dutch traders in the 17th century to refer to the island, with origins in the local indigenous language.

Taiwan (English): 2169 Taiwan, a main belt asteroid

Definitions

  1. 2169 Taiwan, a main belt asteroid

Ancestry of “Taiwan”, step by step

Taiwan traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Chinese Mandarin 臺灣

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Chinese Mandarin臺灣—
2Hokkien臺灣—

via French Taïwan

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1FrenchTaïwan—

Words derived from “Taiwan”

Every word from Hokkien 臺灣 →