Asia

[ey-zhuh, ey-shuh]

noun

a continent bounded by Europe and the Arctic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. About 16,000,000 sq. mi. (41,440,000 sq. km).

Can be confusedAsia East Asia South Asia Southeast Asia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for asia

Contemporary Examples of asia

Asia Bibi, as she is known, was arrested and sentenced to death.
In Defense of Blasphemy
Michael Tomasky
January 9, 2015
The accident rate in Asia has marred what was in 2014 a banner year for aviation safety.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501
Clive Irving
January 6, 2015
Like him, they identified the Airbus A320 as an airplane extremely well fitted to low cost airline operations in Asia.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501
Clive Irving
January 6, 2015
Malaysian-based entrepreneur Tony Fernandes has turned AirAsia into the most successful low cost airline in southeast Asia.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501
Clive Irving
January 6, 2015
Launched just 13 years ago, it quickly became a serious rival to MAS and a rising juggernaut in Asia.
The Presumed Crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 Is Nothing Like MH370
Lennox Samuels
December 29, 2014

Historical Examples of asia

All the systems of writing of the ancient people of Asia had one thing in common.
Ancient Man
Hendrik Willem van Loon
Masses of Asia have awakened to strike off shackles of the past.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
He and his friends were approaching Macri, on the coast of Asia Minor.
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. II
Francis Augustus Cox
He heartily wished Judy had been in Asia before she had spoken of it, and her tongue with her.
The Channings
Mrs. Henry Wood
Europe may enslave Asia, because it is flattering: but Europe must not free Asia, because that is responsible.
Alarms and Discursions
G. K. Chesterton

British Dictionary definitions for asia

Asia

noun

the largest of the continents, bordering on the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Mediterranean and Red Seas in the west. It includes the large peninsulas of Asia Minor, India, Arabia, and Indochina and the island groups of Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka); contains the mountain ranges of the Hindu Kush, Himalayas, Pamirs, Tian Shan, Urals, and Caucasus, the great plateaus of India, Iran, and Tibet, vast plains and deserts, and the valleys of many large rivers including the Mekong, Irrawaddy, Indus, Ganges, Tigris, and Euphrates. Pop: 3 917 508 000 (2005 est). Area: 44 391 162 sq km (17 139 445 sq miles)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for asia

Asia

c.1300, from Latin Asia, from Greek Asia, speculated to be from Akkadian asu "to go out, to rise," in reference to the sun, thus "the land of the sunrise."

asia in Culture

Asia

World's largest continent, joined to Europe to the west, forming Eurasia.

Note

Site of some of the world's earliest civilizations.

Note

With three-fifths of the world's population, Asia has some of the world's greatest population densities.