japan
noun
any of various hard, durable, black varnishes, originally from Japan, for coating wood, metal, or other surfaces.
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japan
1 American
[juh-pan]
/ dʒəˈpæn /
noun
-
any of various hard, durable, black varnishes, originally from Japan, for coating wood, metal, or other surfaces.
-
work varnished and figured in the Japanese manner.
-
Japans, a variety of decorative motifs or patterns derived from Asian sources, used on English porcelain of the 18th and 19th centuries.
adjective
verb (used with object)
japanned,
japanning
-
to varnish with japan; lacquer.
-
to coat with any material that gives a hard, black gloss.
Japan
2
American
[juh-pan]
/ dʒəˈpæn /
noun
-
Japanese Nihon, Nippon. a constitutional monarchy on a chain of islands off the eastern coast of Asia: main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. 141,529 sq. mi. (366,560 sq. km). Tokyo.
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Sea of Japan, a marginal sea bounded by North Korea, the Far Eastern mainland of Russia, the Russian island Sakhalin, Japan, and South Korea: largely enclosed from the Pacific Ocean and seldom affected by tides.
Japan.
3
American
abbreviation
japan
1
British
/ dʒəˈpæn /
noun
-
a glossy durable black lacquer originally from the Orient, used on wood, metal, etc
-
work decorated and varnished in the Japanese manner
-
a liquid used as a paint drier
adjective
verb
Japan
2
British
/ dʒəˈpæn /
noun
Japan
Cultural
Discover More
Although a world leader in shipbuilding, electronics, and automobile manufacture, Japan's economy suffered a severe slump during the 1990s.
Called the “Land of the Rising Sun,” Japan is symbolized by a red sun on a white background.
Japan's ports were first opened to Western traders in the sixteenth century but were closed in the seventeenth century. Japan remained in virtual isolation until the 1850s, when an American naval officer, Matthew C. Perry, persuaded the government to reopen trade with the West.
Another symbol (see also symbol) of Japan is Fujiyama, also called Mount Fuji, a volcano whose symmetrical snow-capped peak has been the object of countless pilgrimages, poems, and paintings. It has not erupted since 1707.
Suffering from overcrowding, lack of natural resources, and the influence of powerful military factions, Japan pursued an aggressive policy of expansion in China during the 1930s, ultimately resulting in a military alliance with Germany and Italy to form the Axis powers in World War II. (See also Hiroshima (see also Hiroshima), Pearl Harbor, and Douglas MacArthur.)
Imperial Japan was organized on a feudal system (see feudalism), characterized by the samurai (the warrior class, which eventually became landed gentry) and the shogun (the hereditary administrative leader). The emperor, believed to be divine, was the ceremonial leader. Japan is a constitutional monarchy today.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of japan1
First recorded in 1605–15; special use of Japan
Origin of Japan2
First recorded in 1570–80 as Giapan; from Malay Jăpung, Japang, from Middle Chinese; see origin at Nippon ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Shame on anyone who shall try to shame them for that and deny them basic rights. tpng813 Just like how japan denies its massive massacres across china.
From Time ● Aug. 13, 2013
So her black japan casket which Harry was to carry to the coach was taken back to her ladyship's chamber, whither the maid and mistress retired.
From Henry Esmond; The English Humourists; The Four Georges by George Saintsbury
He's had it all these seven years, locked up in that black japan cabinet with the gold figures—" "I know.
From The Mandarin's Fan by Fergus Hume
They are japan to Japan, Sweet-meets to Sweet-meats, sollicit to solicit, and hugy to hugely.
Dissolve asphaltum in naphtha until it is as thin as water and makes a yellowish stain; or to equal parts of asphaltum, varnish, and gold size japan, add enough turpentine to thin to proper consistency.
From Handwork in Wood by William Noyes
"Even if it means having to give up on climbing the mountain together, leaving a child behind is unacceptable," one told him, according to Japan Today.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
However, surveys of purchasing managers recorded a pickup in activity in the eurozone, Japan and India during August, suggesting the global economy might avoid a further modest slowdown in the third quarter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Researchers in Japan have captured an extraordinarily fast electronic transformation inside a metal-organic framework, observing a fleeting state and the hidden state that followed within just 30 femtoseconds.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
Japan is the biggest funder of the ICC and a close US ally.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
The last time anyone had heard a word from him was when he was in Japan.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
“They wanted a little bit of help and we’re always there for Japan. Japan has been very good to us,” he said, “with the exception, of course, of Pearl Harbor.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
“The hype started in Japan. In Japan there are even cafés where you have contact with capybaras. And the internet helped, and the public is always curious. They want to know about the species.”
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
"This is my love letter to Japan. I really wish one day I can screen my film, and my family can also watch it," she added.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2025
“As it gets closer to the season, I’ll talk to the coaches and fix it. It was the same in Japan. When the season starts, I’ll make those adjustments.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2024
“Ate this in Japan. Decades ago. An international meet. Our team hosts said we had to try.”
From "Black Brother, Black Brother" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
His sponges were the ordinary reef sponges and these he would rinse in an old japanned basin, changing the water in the basin only when it became too bloody to return the sponges relatively clean.
From Time Magazine Archive
He lighted the shank of candle in the japanned candlestick and regarded the bed—as spineless as a hammock and covered with a dirty patchwork quilt, the cotton batting spilling from the edges.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
One was of nickel or silver; the other, a trifle larger, appeared, as Grindley lifted it out, to be an ordinary japanned cash-box, with the key sticking in the lock.
From The Messenger by Elizabeth Robins
The roof was supported by rows of columns, elaborately sculptured and japanned, which rested upon a pavement of the rarest veined marble, of so high a polish that it reflected the whole interior.
From The War Tiger Or, Adventures and Wonderful Fortunes of the Young Sea Chief and His Lad Chow: A Tale of the Conquest of China by William Dalton
If made of iron or zinc, they should be well japanned; if of copper, this is not so essential.
From A Treatise on Meteorological Instruments Explanatory of Their Scientific Principles, Method of Construction, and Practical Utility by Henry Negretti
Pianos, cradles, arm-chairs, indeed complete drawing-room suites, cornices, door-plates, and a variety of ornaments are displayed, in addition to the tea-trays and tea-chests in which the art of japanning first became known to us.
From Rides on Railways by Samuel Sidney
Dick interposed with a question as to the process, aim, and object of japanning, but Mr Button passed the question by.
From The Blue Lagoon: a romance by H. De Vere (Henry De Vere) Stacpoole
My table I like; though he has stuck in among the ornaments two vile china jars, that look like the modern japanning by ladies.
From The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford — Volume 1 by Peter Cunningham
Over the ordinary tanning of the sailor, he seemed masked by a visor of japanning, dotted all over with freckles, so intensely yellow, and symmetrically circular, that they seemed scorched there by a burning glass.
From Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I by Herman Melville
The above four receipts are used in japanning.
From Young's Demonstrative Translation of Scientific Secrets by Daniel Young
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
