Japon

J8A1P3O1N1

A form of japan — A hard black enamel varnish containing asphalt.

OriginNew Latin Iapō̆nia ← French Japon ← Cantonese 日本 →
UncommonScrabble 14
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Meanings

proper noun

alternative Iapon

  1. obsoleteObsolete form of Japan.

    Thus he [Toyotomi Hideyoshi], which in his youth had vſed to cut wood and carry it into the Market to ſell for his daily ſuſtenance, for his valure promoted in militarie honours, at laſt became the greateſt Monarch that Iapon had ſeene in eight hundred yeares, […]

    1613, Samuel Purchas, “[Asia.] Of the Islands of Iapon, and Their Religions.”, in Purchas His Pilgrimage. Or Relations of the World and the Religions Observed in All Ages and Places Discouered, from the Creation vnto this Present. […], London: […] William Stansby for Henrie Fetherstone, […], →OCLC, book V (Of the East-Indies: And of the Seas and Ilands about Asia, with Their Religions), page 442

Origin

  1. Cantonese日本
  2. FrenchJapon
  3. New LatinIapō̆nia
  4. EnglishJapon

Possibly from New Latin Iapō̆nia or French Japon or Cantonese 日本 (jat⁶ bun²).

More words from New Latin, French, Cantonese

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Japon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Japon

MLA

“Japon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Japon. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Japon,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Japon.

Source: Japon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.