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Formosa

[fawr-moh-suh]
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noun
  1. Taiwan.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for formosa

Historical Examples

  • They raise the cane and make sugar in Formosa and the southern provinces.

    Four Young Explorers

    Oliver Optic

  • Rice paper is made of the pith of a tree found only in Formosa.

  • All civilians on the islands who wished to go to Formosa were taken there.

    The Golden Judge

    Nathaniel Gordon

  • The Empress of Formosa will dock on Monday—about—nine in the morning.

    Athalie

    Robert W. Chambers

  • Can this scene be duplicated in Formosa and Korea, where the Japanese hold sway?

British Dictionary definitions for formosa

Formosa

noun
  1. the former name of Taiwan
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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 formosa

Formosa

old name of Taiwan, given by Portuguese, from Portuguese Formosa insula "beautiful island," from fem. of Latin formosus "beautiful, handsome, finely formed," from forma (see form (n.)).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper