Korea

K5O1R1E1A1
US/kəˈɹi.ə/US[kʰəˈɹi.ə]UK/kəˈɹiːə/UK[kʰəˈɹiːə]

proper noun

A geographic region in East Asia, consisting of two countries, commonly known as South Korea and North Korea; formerly a single country.

OriginDutch Core ← Hokkien 高麗 /高丽 →
Very commonScrabble 9
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Meanings

proper nounKorea (countable and uncountable, plural Koreas)

plural Koreas · alternative archaic Corea

  1. countableuncountableA geographic region in East Asia, consisting of two countries, commonly known as South Korea and North Korea; formerly a single country.

    After the death of the empreſs Papûſha he had been baniſhed into Korea, from whence he was removed to Quey-lin Fû, the capital of Quang-ſi.

    1780, “The Hiſtory of Jenghîz Khan's Succeſſors in Tartary and China”, in The Modern Part of an Univerſal History from the Earlieſt Accounts to the Preſent Time, volume IV, page 297
    1 more example

    Then I told the delegates of the trip which I had taken with my wife, Jane, into Korea on the previous Thanksgiving, and of how I had celebrated my seventy-fourth birthday on the snowy mountains of Korea, eating from a mess kit with the men in uniform.

    1954, Alben W. Barkley, “What Happened at Chicago”, in That Reminds Me, Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 246
    1. countableinformaluncountableSouth Korea: A country in East Asia, comprising the southern part of the Korean Peninsula.
    2. countablerareuncountableNorth Korea: A country in East Asia, whose territory consists of the northern part of Korea.
  2. countableuncountableA peninsula in East Asia, containing the countries of North Korea and South Korea; in full, Korean Peninsula.

Origin

  1. Hokkien高麗 /高丽
  2. DutchCore
  3. EnglishKorea

First attested as Core in the 1598 English translation of the 1596 Itinerario of Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, from the original Dutch Core, itself from Portuguese according to van Linschoten's account. The spelling Corea was more common in Early Modern English. Ultimately a sixteenth-century borrowing by Europeans from some variety of Chinese. Compare Mandarin 高麗 /高丽 (Gāolí) but especially Hokkien 高麗 /高丽 (Ko-lê), which matches the Dutch-Portuguese vowels exactly. These are Chinese pronunciations of Sino-Korean 고려(高麗) (Goryeo), Korea's official name between 918 and 1394 and still used by Chinese people to refer to the country for centuries thereafter; this itself being a shortening of 高句麗 (“Goguryeo”), an ancient Korean kingdom in the first millennium. Doublet of Goryeo, directly from Korean. Some Korean authors claim an Arabic intermediary instead, but this is impossible because the actual medieval Arabic word for Korea was a variant of السيلى (al-sīlā, see also Silla).

More words from Dutch, Hokkien

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Arabic كُورْيَا, كُورِيَا
  • كُورْيَا (kūryā)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
  • كُورِيَا (kūriyā)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Bengali কোরিয়া
  • কোরিয়া (kōriẏa)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Bulgarian Коре́я
  • Коре́я (Koréja)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Catalan Corea
  • Coreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Chinese Cantonese 高麗 /高丽, 朝鮮 /朝鲜
  • 高麗 /高丽 (gou¹ lai⁶)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
  • 朝鮮 /朝鲜 (ciu⁴ sin¹, ziu¹ sin¹)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
  • 韓國 /韩国 (hon⁴ gwok³)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Chinese Mandarin 高麗 /高丽, 朝鮮 /朝鲜
  • 高麗 /高丽 (Gāolí)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
  • 朝鮮 /朝鲜 (Cháoxiǎn, Cháoxiān, Zhāoxiān)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
  • 韓國 /韩国 (Hánguó)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Czech Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Danish Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Dutch Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Esperanto Koreujo, Koreio
  • Koreujoancient country or both Koreas as a whole
  • Koreioancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Estonian Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Finnish Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
French Corée
  • Coréeancient country or both Koreas as a whole
German Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Greek Κορέα
  • Κορέα (Koréa)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Hawaiian Kōlea
  • Kōleaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Hebrew קוֹרֵיאָה
  • קוֹרֵיאָה (koria)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Hindi कोरिया
  • कोरिया (koriyā)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Hungarian Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Icelandic Kórea
  • Kóreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Indonesian Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Irish an Chóiré
  • an Chóiréancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Italian Corea
  • Coreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Japanese 朝鮮, 高麗
  • 朝鮮 (Chōsen)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
  • 高麗 (Kōrai)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
  • 韓国 (Kankoku)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
  • コリア (Koria)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Korean 한국, 조선
  • 한국 (Han'guk)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
  • 조선 (Joseon)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
  • 우리나라 (urinara)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Latin Corēa
  • Corēaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Latvian Koreja
  • Korejaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Lithuanian Korėja
  • Korėjaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Malay Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Māori Koria
  • Koriaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Norwegian Bokmål Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Polish Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Portuguese Coreia
  • Coreiaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Punjabi ਕੋਰੀਆ
  • ਕੋਰੀਆ (korīā)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Romanian Coreea
  • Coreeaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Russian Коре́я
  • Коре́я (Koréja)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Slovak Kórea
  • Kóreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Spanish Corea
  • Coreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Swahili Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Swedish Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Tagalog Korea
  • Koreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Tamil கொரியா
  • கொரியா (koriyā)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Thai เกาหลี
  • เกาหลี (gao-lǐi)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Turkish Kore
  • Koreancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Ukrainian Коре́я
  • Коре́я (Koréja)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Urdu کورِیا
  • کورِیا (koriyā)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Vietnamese Cao Ly, Cao Lệ
  • Cao Lyancient country or both Koreas as a whole
  • Cao Lệancient country or both Koreas as a whole
  • Triều Tiênancient country or both Koreas as a whole
  • Hàn Quốcancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Welsh Corea
  • Coreaancient country or both Koreas as a whole
Yiddish קאָרעע
  • קאָרעע (koree)ancient country or both Koreas as a whole

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with Korea

viaideaeamariaTanzaniaLuciaGarciamiaEritrealeaBeadiarrheaLeahsheariaureaHoseapizzeriaSandiatortillaPadillaTheachiaShia
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

chorea (general, except South Asia)career (in fast non-rhotic speech)

Anagrams

keora
Cite this entry
APA

Korea. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Korea

MLA

“Korea.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Korea. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Korea,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Korea.

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