大和

Japanese

Kanji in this term
大	和

Etymology

/yamato₂/: [jamatə] > [jamato]. From older yamatai. Originally a geographical region in Nara, came to refer to all of Nara, and eventually to the country as a whole: Japan. The kanji used are jukujikun and thus do not correspond to the pronunciation 'Yamato.'

Alternative forms

• 倭
• 大養徳

Pronunciation

• IPA: /jamato/

Noun

大和 (hiragana やまと, romaji yamato)

1. the name of a town in the Shikinoshimo district in the Yamato Province of Japan; generally equivalent to modern Tenri area
2. the name of a city in Kanagawa Prefecture
3. name of one of the old provinces that made up Japan; generally equivalent to modern Nara prefecture
4. a name for the country of Japan

Derived terms

• 大和人 (yamatobito)
• 大和文 (yamatobumi)
• 大和琴 (yamatogoto)
• 大和言葉 (yamato kotoba)
• 大和名 (yamato na)
• 大和撫子 (yamato nadeshiko)
• 大和島 (yamatoshima)
• 大和女 (yamatome)
• 大和民族 (yamato minzoku)
• 大和文字 (yamato moji)

Synonyms

• 日本 (nihon, nippon)

Proper noun

大和 (hiragana やまと, romaji Yamato)

1. A male given name
2. A surname.

See also

• 奈良 (nara)