Etymology

Ryukyu

R1Y4U1K5Y4U1

Today it means: A chain of islands in Japan roughly between Kyushu and Taiwan. Full definition →

Japanese 琉球
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The story

  1. Japanese · derived from琉球
  2. English todayRyukyu

From Japanese 琉球 (Ryūkyū), from Middle Chinese 流求 (MC ljuw gjuw), a Chinese exonym for the island kingdom, of unclear origin. Doublet of Liuqiu.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.