Ryukyuan

American  

[ree-oo-kyoo-uhn, ryoo-] / riˈu kyu ən, ˈryu- /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Ryukyu, its people, or their languages.

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noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Ryukyu.

2. the group of languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands related to Japanese.

Etymology

Origin of Ryukyuan

First recorded in 1880–85; Ryukyu ( def. ) + -an ( def. )

Example Sentences

The Ryukyuan Pygmy Squid, Idiosepius kijimuna, is named after the short, red-haired forest fairies that are said to live in the banyan trees of Okinawa.

From Science Daily • Oct. 24, 2023

Adding to this, both species are only active at night, and the Ryukyuan only appears in winter.

From Science Daily • Oct. 24, 2023

Therefore when, in 1873, the crew of a wrecked Ryukyuan junk was barbarously treated by the Formosan aborigines, the Yedo Government at once sought redress from Peking.

From A History of the Japanese People From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era by Brinkley, F. (Frank)