Korea

See also: korea and Kórea

English

Location of Korea

Alternative forms

• Corea (now rare)

Etymology

(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?) First attested as Core in the 1598 English translation of the 1596 Itinerario of Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, from the original Dutch Core, itself from Portuguese according to van Linschoten's account. The spelling Corea was more common in Early Modern English, likely through Core +‎ -ia.

Ultimately a sixteenth-century borrowing by Europeans from some variety of Chinese. Compare Mandarin 高麗 / 高丽 (Gāolí) but especially Hokkien 高麗 / 高丽 (Ko-lê), which matches the Dutch-Portuguese vowels exactly.

These are Chinese pronunciations of Sino-Korean 고려(高麗) (Goryeo), Korea's official name between 918 and 1394 and still used by Chinese people to refer to the country for centuries thereafter; this itself being a shortening of 高句麗 (“Goguryeo”), an ancient Korean kingdom in the first millennium. Doublet of Goryeo, directly from Korean.

Some Korean authors claim an Arabic intermediary instead, but this is impossible because the actual medieval Arabic word for Korea was a variant of السيلى (al-sīlā, see also Silla).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /kəˈɹi.ə/, [kʰɵˈɹi.ə]
• (UK) IPA^(key): /kəˈɹiːə/, [kʰɵˈɹiːə]
• Homophones: chorea (general), career (in fast non-rhotic speech)
• Rhymes: -iːə

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Proper noun

Korea (countable and uncountable, plural Koreas)

2. A region and peninsula consisting of two countries in East Asia, commonly known as South Korea and North Korea; formerly a single country.
   • 1780, “The Hiſtory of Jenghîz Khan's Succeſſors in Tartary and China”, in The Modern Part of an Univerſal History from the Earlieſt Accounts to the Preſent Time‎^[1], volume IV, page 297:

     After the death of the empreſs Papûſha he had been baniſhed into Korea, from whence he was removed to Quey-lin Fû, the capital of Quang-ſi.

   • 1954, Alben W. Barkley, “What Happened at Chicago”, in That Reminds Me‎^[2], Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 246:

     Then I told the delegates of the trip which I had taken with my wife, Jane, into Korea on the previous Thanksgiving, and of how I had celebrated my seventy-fourth birthday on the snowy mountains of Korea, eating from a mess kit with the men in uniform.

   1. Short for the Republic of Korea (South Korea).
   2. (recently less common) Short for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).

Derived terms

• Best Korea
• Juche Korea
• Korean
• Korea Passing
• North Korea
• People's Korea
• South Korea
• Worst Korea

Descendants

• → Welsh: Corea

Translations

ancient country or both Koreas as a whole

• Abkhaz: Кореа (Kʼorea)
• Afrikaans: Korea
• Albanian: Kore f, Koreja f (definite)
• Amharic: ኮርያ (korya)
• Arabic: كُورْيَا f (kūryā), كُورِيَا f (kūriyā)

  Hijazi Arabic: كوريا f (kūrya)

• Aragonese: Corea f, Coreya f
• Armenian: Կորեա (hy) (Korea)
• Assamese: কোৰিয়া (küria)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܟܘܿܪܝܼܵܐ f (kōrīyā)
• Asturian: Corea (ast) f
• Azerbaijani: Koreya
• Belarusian: Карэ́я f (Karéja)
• Bengali: কোরিয়া (bn) (kōriẏa)
• Bikol Central: Korea
• Buginese: ᨀᨚᨑᨗᨕ
• Bulgarian: Коре́я f (Koréja)
• Burmese: ကိုရီးယား (my) (kuiri:ya:)
• Carpathian Rusyn: Коре́я f (Koréja)
• Catalan: Corea f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 高麗 / 高丽 (yue) (gou¹ lai⁶), 朝鮮 / 朝鲜 (yue) (ciu⁴ sin¹, ziu¹ sin¹), 韓國 / 韩国 (yue) (hon⁴ gwok³)

  Dungan: Чощян (Čoxi͡an)

  Eastern Min: 高麗 / 高丽 (Gŏ̤-là̤), 朝鮮 / 朝鲜 (Dièu-siēng), 韓國 / 韩国 (Hàng-guók)

  Mandarin: 高麗 / 高丽 (zh) (Gāolí), 朝鮮 / 朝鲜 (zh) (Cháoxiǎn, Cháoxiān, Zhāoxiān), 韓國 / 韩国 (zh) (Hánguó)

  Wu: 高麗 / 高丽 (¹kau-li), 朝鮮 / 朝鲜 (⁶zau-shi), 韓國 / 韩国 (⁶ghoe-koq)

• Corsican: Corea f, Curea f
• Crimean Tatar: Koreya
• Czech: Korea (cs) f
• Danish: Korea n
• Dhivehi: ކޮރެއާ (koreā)
• Dutch: Korea (nl) n
• Esperanto: Koreujo, Koreio
• Estonian: Korea (et)
• Faroese: Korea n
• Finnish: Korea (fi)
• French: Corée (fr) f
• Friulian: Coree f
• Galician: Corea (gl) f
• Georgian: კორეა (ḳorea)
• German: Korea (de) n
• Greek: Κορέα (el) f (Koréa)
• Gujarati: કોરિયા (koriyā)
• Hawaiian: Kōlea
• Hebrew: קוֹרֵיאָה f (koria)
• Hindi: कोरिया (hi) m (koriyā)
• Hungarian: Korea (hu)
• Icelandic: Kórea (is) f
• Ido: Korea (io)
• Indonesian: Korea (id)
• Interlingua: Corea
• Irish: an Chóiré f
• Italian: Corea (it) f
• Japanese: 朝鮮 (ja) (ちょうせん, Chōsen), 高麗 (こうらい, Kōrai), 韓国 (ja) (かんこく, Kankoku), コリア (ja) (Koria)
• Kalenjin: Korea
• Kamba: Korea
• Kannada: ಕೊರಿಯಾ (koriyā)
• Kashubian: Kòreja f
• Kazakh: Корея (Koreä)
• Khmer: កូរ៉េ (km) (kouree)
• Kikuyu: ko
• Korean: 한국(韓國) (ko) (Han'guk) (South Korea), 조선(朝鮮) (ko) (Joseon) (chiefly North Korea, dated in South Korea), 우리나라 (ko) (urinara)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: Kore (ku), Korea (ku), Qore (ku)

• Kyrgyz: Корея (Koreya)
• Lao: ເກົາຫຼີ (kao lī), ເກົາຫລີ (kao lī)
• Latin: Corēa (la) f (New Latin)
• Latvian: Koreja f
• Lithuanian: Korėja (lt) f
• Luhya: Korea
• Luo: Korea
• Macedonian: Коре́ја (mk) f (Koréja)
• Malay: Korea
• Malayalam: കൊറിയ (koṟiya)
• Maltese: il-Korea f
• Manchu: ᠰᠣᠯᡥᠣ (solho), ᠴᠣᠣᡥᡳᠶᠠᠨ (coohiyan)
• Maori: Koria
• Marathi: कोरिया (koriyā)
• Meru: Korea
• Middle Mongolian: 莎郎合思 (sōlongos)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: Солонгос (mn) (Solongos), Гуулин (mn) (Guulin) (archaic)

  Mongolian: ᠰᠣᠯᠤᠩᠭᠤᠰ (solungɣus)

• Navajo: Binááʼádaałtsʼózí Dineʼé Bikéyah Yázhí
• Nepali: कोरिया (koriyā)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Korea n

  Nynorsk: Korea n

• Occitan: Corèa f
• Odia: କୋରିଆ (koriā)
• Okinawan: 高麗 (こーれー, Kōrē), 韓国 (くゎんくく, Kwankuku)
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: Корєꙗ f (Koreja) (modern)

• Old Turkic: 𐰲𐰇𐰞𐰍𐰞 (čölgül)
• Ossetian: Корей (Korej)
• Ottoman Turkish: قوره (qore)
• Pashto: کوريا f (koryã)
• Persian:

  Dari: کورِیَا (kōriyā)

  Iranian Persian: کُرِه (kore)

• Polish: Korea (pl) f
• Portuguese: Coreia (pt) f
• Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi: ਕੋਰੀਆ m (korīā)

• Romanian: Coreea f
• Romansch: Corea f
• Russian: Коре́я (ru) f (Koréja)
• Sanskrit: कोरिया (koriyā)
• Sardinian: Corea f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Коре́ја f

  Roman: Koréja (sh) f

• Scots: Korea
• Sicilian: Corea f
• Silesian: Koryjo
• Sinhalese: කොරියාව (koriyāwa)
• Slovak: Kórea f
• Slovene: Korêja (sl) f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: Koreja f

  Upper Sorbian: Koreja f

• Spanish: Corea (es) f
• Swahili: Korea
• Swedish: Korea (sv) n
• Tagalog: Korea
• Tajik: Қурия (Quriya), Корея (tg) (Koreya)
• Tamil: கொரியா (ta) (koriyā)
• Tatar: Корея (Qoreya)
• Telugu: కొరియా (te) (koriyā)
• Thai: เกาหลี (th) (gao-lǐi)
• Tibetan: ཀོ་རི་ཡ (ko ri ya)
• Tigrinya: ኮርያ (korya)
• Turkish: Kore (tr)
• Turkmen: Koreýa
• Ukrainian: Коре́я (uk) f (Koréja)
• Urdu: کورِیا m (koriyā)
• Uyghur: چاۋشيەن (chawshyen), كورىيە (koriye)
• Uzbek: Koreya
• Vietnamese: Cao Ly (高麗), Cao Lệ (高麗), Triều Tiên (vi) (朝鮮), Hàn Quốc (vi) (韓國)
• Welsh: Corea
• West Flemish: Korea n
• West Frisian: Koreä n
• Yiddish: קאָרעע f (koree)
• Zealandic: Korea n
• Zhuang: Cauzsenh, Hanzgoz

South Korea — see South Korea

North Korea — see North Korea

See also

• Names of Korea on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• keora, oaker

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkorɛa]

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Korea f (relational adjective korejský, demonym Korejec, female demonym Korejka)

1. Korea (two countries in East Asia, North Korea and South Korea)

Declension

Declension of Korea (feminine in -ea)

	singular	plural
nominative	Korea	Korey, Koreje
genitive	Korey, Koreje	Korejí
dative	Koreji	Koreám, Korejím
accusative	Koreu	Korey, Koreje
vocative	Koreo	Korey, Koreje
locative	Koreji	Koreách, Korejích
instrumental	Koreou, Korejí	Koreami, Korejemi

Related terms

• Jižní Korea
• korejština
• Severní Korea

Further reading

• “Korea”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “Korea”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “Korea”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Dutch

Etymology

Ultimately, from Korean 고려 (Goryeo).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkoːˈreː.aː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ko‧rea

Proper noun

Korea n

1. Korea

Derived terms

• Koreaan
• Koreaoorlog
• Noord-Korea
• Zuid-Korea

Faroese

Korea

Etymology

Ultimately, from Korean 고려 (Goryeo).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʰoˈɹeː.a/

Proper noun

Korea n

1. Korea

Declension

	singular
	indefinite
nominative	Korea
accusative	Korea
dative	Korea
genitive	Korea

Derived terms

• koreanskur
• Norðurkorea
• Suðurkorea

Finnish

Etymology

From Korean 고려 (Goryeo).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkoreɑ/, [ˈko̞re̞ɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -oreɑ
• Syllabification^(key): Ko‧re‧a
• Hyphenation^(key): Ko‧rea

Proper noun

Korea

1. Korea (ancient country)
2. Korea (either of the two current Korean states)
3. Korea (Korean peninsula)

Usage notes

• Plural may be used of North and South Korea collectively.

Declension

Inflection of Korea (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)
nominative		Korea	Koreat
genitive		Korean	Koreoiden Koreoitten
partitive		Koreaa	Koreoita
illative		Koreaan	Koreoihin
		singular	plural
nominative		Korea	Koreat
accusative	nom.	Korea	Koreat
	gen.	Korean
genitive		Korean	Koreoiden Koreoitten Koreain rare
partitive		Koreaa	Koreoita
inessive		Koreassa	Koreoissa
elative		Koreasta	Koreoista
illative		Koreaan	Koreoihin
adessive		Korealla	Koreoilla
ablative		Korealta	Koreoilta
allative		Korealle	Koreoille
essive		Koreana	Koreoina
translative		Koreaksi	Koreoiksi
abessive		Koreatta	Koreoitta
instructive		—	Koreoin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of Korea (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Koreani Koreani accusative nom. Koreani Koreani gen. Koreani genitive Koreani Koreoideni Koreoitteni Koreaini rare partitive Koreaani Koreoitani inessive Koreassani Koreoissani elative Koreastani Koreoistani illative Koreaani Koreoihini adessive Koreallani Koreoillani ablative Korealtani Koreoiltani allative Korealleni Koreoilleni essive Koreanani Koreoinani translative Koreakseni Koreoikseni abessive Koreattani Koreoittani instructive — — comitative — Koreoineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Koreasi Koreasi accusative nom. Koreasi Koreasi gen. Koreasi genitive Koreasi Koreoidesi Koreoittesi Koreaisi rare partitive Koreaasi Koreoitasi inessive Koreassasi Koreoissasi elative Koreastasi Koreoistasi illative Koreaasi Koreoihisi adessive Koreallasi Koreoillasi ablative Korealtasi Koreoiltasi allative Koreallesi Koreoillesi essive Koreanasi Koreoinasi translative Koreaksesi Koreoiksesi abessive Koreattasi Koreoittasi instructive — — comitative — Koreoinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Koreamme Koreamme accusative nom. Koreamme Koreamme gen. Koreamme genitive Koreamme Koreoidemme Koreoittemme Koreaimme rare partitive Koreaamme Koreoitamme inessive Koreassamme Koreoissamme elative Koreastamme Koreoistamme illative Koreaamme Koreoihimme adessive Koreallamme Koreoillamme ablative Korealtamme Koreoiltamme allative Koreallemme Koreoillemme essive Koreanamme Koreoinamme translative Koreaksemme Koreoiksemme abessive Koreattamme Koreoittamme instructive — — comitative — Koreoinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Koreanne Koreanne accusative nom. Koreanne Koreanne gen. Koreanne genitive Koreanne Koreoidenne Koreoittenne Koreainne rare partitive Koreaanne Koreoitanne inessive Koreassanne Koreoissanne elative Koreastanne Koreoistanne illative Koreaanne Koreoihinne adessive Koreallanne Koreoillanne ablative Korealtanne Koreoiltanne allative Koreallenne Koreoillenne essive Koreananne Koreoinanne translative Koreaksenne Koreoiksenne abessive Koreattanne Koreoittanne instructive — — comitative — Koreoinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative Koreansa Koreansa accusative nom. Koreansa Koreansa gen. Koreansa genitive Koreansa Koreoidensa Koreoittensa Koreainsa rare partitive Koreaansa Koreoitaan Koreoitansa inessive Koreassaan Koreassansa Koreoissaan Koreoissansa elative Koreastaan Koreastansa Koreoistaan Koreoistansa illative Koreaansa Koreoihinsa adessive Koreallaan Koreallansa Koreoillaan Koreoillansa ablative Korealtaan Korealtansa Koreoiltaan Koreoiltansa allative Korealleen Koreallensa Koreoilleen Koreoillensa essive Koreanaan Koreanansa Koreoinaan Koreoinansa translative Koreakseen Koreaksensa Koreoikseen Koreoiksensa abessive Koreattaan Koreattansa Koreoittaan Koreoittansa instructive — — comitative — Koreoineen Koreoinensa

Synonyms

• (current state): Etelä-Korea, Pohjois-Korea
• (peninsula): Korean niemimaa

Derived terms

• Etelä-Korea
• korea (language)
• korealainen
• Korean niemimaa
• koreanjindonkoira
• koreankielinen
• koreanmastiffi
• koreanminttu
• Koreansalmi
• Pohjois-Korea

See also

• korea (senses beautiful or chorea)

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /koˈʁeːaː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Korea n (genitive Koreas, plural Korea)

1. Korea

Usage notes

• The plural refers to both Südkorea (Republik Korea) and Nordkorea (Demokratische Volksrepublik Korea), and does occur in forms like "die beiden Korea".

Further reading

• “Korea” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkorɛɒ]
• Hyphenation: Ko‧rea
• Rhymes: -ɒ

Proper noun

Korea

1. Korea (ancient country)
2. Korea (either of the two current Korean states)

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	Korea	—
accusative	Koreát	—
dative	Koreának	—
instrumental	Koreával	—
causal-final	Koreáért	—
translative	Koreává	—
terminative	Koreáig	—
essive-formal	Koreaként	—
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	Koreában	—
superessive	Koreán	—
adessive	Koreánál	—
illative	Koreába	—
sublative	Koreára	—
allative	Koreához	—
elative	Koreából	—
delative	Koreáról	—
ablative	Koreától	—
non-attributive possessive – singular	Koreáé	—
non-attributive possessive – plural	Koreáéi	—

Possessive forms of Korea

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	Koreám	—
2nd person sing.	Koreád	—
3rd person sing.	Koreája	—
1st person plural	Koreánk	—
2nd person plural	Koreátok	—
3rd person plural	Koreájuk	—

Derived terms

• koreai

(Compound words):

• Dél-Korea
• Észak-Korea

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay Korea, ultimately from Sino-Korean 고려(高麗) (Goryeo).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /koˈrea/ [koˈre.a]
• Rhymes: -ea
• Syllabification: Ko‧re‧a

Proper noun

Koréa

1. Korea

Compounds

• Korea Selatan
• Korea Utara

Further reading

• “Korea” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Malay

Etymology

Ultimately from Sino-Korean 고려(高麗) (Goryeo).

Pronunciation

• (Johor) IPA^(key): /koˈriə/ [koˈri.ə]

• (Penang, Riau-Lingga, Baku) IPA^(key): /koˈria/ [koˈri.a]
• Rhymes: -ia

Proper noun

Korea (Jawi spelling کوريا)

1. Korea

Derived terms

• bahasa Korea
• Korea Selatan
• Korea Utara
• Semenanjung Korea

Descendants

• Indonesian: Korea

Further reading

• “Korea” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Korean 고려 (Goryeo).

Proper noun

Korea

1. Korea (region and former country in East Asia, now divided into North Korea and South Korea)

Related terms

• Nord-Korea, Sør-Korea
• koreaner, nordkoreaner, sørkoreaner
• koreansk, nordkoreansk, sørkoreansk

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Korean 고려 (Goryeo).

Proper noun

Korea

1. Korea (region and former country in East Asia, now divided into North Korea and South Korea)

Related terms

• Nord-Korea, Sør-Korea
• korean, koreanar, nordkorean, nordkoreanar, sørkorean, sørkoreanar
• koreansk, nordkoreansk, sørkoreansk

Polish

Map of Korea

Etymology

From Korean 고려 (Goryeo).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔˈrɛ.a/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛa
• Syllabification: Ko‧re‧a

Proper noun

Korea f

1. (historical) Korea (“an ancient country in East Asia”)
2. (informal) Korea (two countries in East Asia, North Korea and South Korea)

Declension

Declension of Korea

	singular	plural
nominative	Korea	Koree
genitive	Korei	Korei
dative	Korei	Koreom
accusative	Koreę	Koree
instrumental	Koreą	Koreami
locative	Korei	Koreach
vocative	Koreo	Koree

Derived terms

• Koreanka
• Koreańczyk
• koreański

Related terms

• Korea Południowa
• Korea Północna

See also

• Półwysep Koreański

Further reading

• Korea in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• Korea in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Swahili

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Proper noun

Korea

1. Korea

Derived terms

• Korea ya Kaskazini
• Korea ya Kusini

Swedish

Etymology

From Korean 고려 (Goryeo).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʊ²reːa/
• Rhymes: -²eːa

Proper noun

Korea n (genitive Koreas)

1. Korea

See also

• Nordkorea
• Sydkorea
• korean
• koreansk
• koreanska

References

• Korea in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• Svensk MeSH

Anagrams

• arkeo-

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish Corea. Ultimately from Korean 고려(高麗) (Goryeo).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog)
  • IPA^(key): /koˈɾea/ [koˈɾɛː.ɐ]
    • Rhymes: -ea
    • Homophones: Correa, korea
  • IPA^(key): /koˈɾia/ [koˈɾiː.ɐ] (English influence)
    • Rhymes: -ia
• Syllabification: Ko‧re‧a

Proper noun

Korea (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜓᜇᜒᜌ)

1. Korea (ancient country)
2. Korea (either of the two current Korean states)

Derived terms

• Hilagang Korea
• Korean
• Koreana
• Koreano
• Timog Korea

Further reading

• “Korea”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018