Etymologically
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giapponese

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Pronunciation

  • /d͡ʒap.poˈne.ze/[1]
  • Traditional: /d͡ʒap.poˈne.se/[1]

Forms

giapponese m or f by sense (plural giapponesi)[1]

Etymology

It is formed in Italian: from Italian Giappone (“Japan”) + -ese.[2][3][1] Wiktionary takes the country name from French Japon, from Portuguese Japão and Malay Jepang, and these from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), the Chinese name meaning “sun origin”.[1] DELI and Nocentini take it from the name of the country, Chinese 日本 (Rìběn), short for a longer name meaning “country of the origin of the sun”.[4][5] Nocentini also names the French form as the route.[5] Marco Polo's book of travels gives the island as Old Italian Zipangu, closer to the Chinese original.[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the title of an account printed in Venice in 1585, La venuta de' principi giapponesi, “The coming of the Japanese princes”.[4] In a letter of 1578 Filippo Sassetti used the curious form Giapino, and iaponi is found in 1587.[4] GRADIT and Zingarelli date giapponese to 1589.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Writers of the 17th century and later used the word for the language, ships and goods of Japan: Serdonati speaks of the long labour of learning la lingua giapponese.[7] In the 19th century Japanese fans and curios became fashionable, as in Fogazzaro and D'Annunzio, and Italian took giapponeseria from French japonaiserie.[7][5][4] Nocentini dates it to 1886, while DELI's first record is Ugo Ojetti in 1929.[5][4] Lotta giapponese, judo or jujitsu, is recorded in 1923.[4]

A recent figurative sense refers to the Japanese soldiers who held out in the jungle for years after the end of the Second World War: l'ultimo giapponese is a person who stubbornly defends a lost position, and in journalism a giapponese is someone who refuses to resign.[6][8][1]

Timeline

  • 1578 – Filippo Sassetti writes Giapino in a letter.[4]
  • 1585 – La venuta de' principi giapponesi is printed in Venice.[4]
  • 1589 – GRADIT and Zingarelli date giapponese to this year.[2][6]
  • 1886 – Giapponeseria is recorded, from French japonaiserie.[5]
  • 1923 – Lotta giapponese is first recorded.[4]
  • 2002 – Italian newspapers call board members who refuse to resign giapponesi.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Japanese, of Japan: un giardino giapponese.[2][9][3]
  2. (figurative) Stubbornly holding on to an outdated position.[8][1]

Noun

  1. A native or inhabitant of Japan.[2][9][3]
  2. (masculine, singular only) The Japanese language.[2][9][3]
  3. (figurative, humorous) l'ultimo giapponese: a die-hard defender of outdated ideas.[6][8]

Word family

  • giapponeseria
  • giapponesità
  • giapponesismo
  • antigiapponese

Usage notes

GRADIT lists many names of plants, animals and things with the adjective, such as carta giapponese (Japanese paper), cedro giapponese and perla giapponese.[2][8] The /s/ is voiced in the neutral pronunciation and voiceless in the traditional one.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 767
  8. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  9. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier