Ja·pan /ʤəˈpæn, ʤæ-/
日本
Ja·pan n. Work varnished and figured in the Japanese manner; also, the varnish or lacquer used in japanning.
Ja·pan, a. Of or pertaining to Japan, or to the lacquered work of that country; as, Japan ware.
Japan allspice Bot., a spiny shrub from Japan (Chimonanthus fragrans), related to the Carolina allspice.
Japan black Chem., a quickly drying black lacquer or varnish, consisting essentially of asphaltum dissolved in naphtha or turpentine, and used for coating ironwork; -- called also Brunswick black, Japan lacquer, or simply Japan.
Japan camphor, ordinary camphor brought from China or Japan, as distinguished from the rare variety called borneol or Borneo camphor.
Japan clover, or Japan pea Bot., a cloverlike plant (Lespedeza striata) from Eastern Asia, useful for fodder, first noticed in the Southern United States about 1860, but now become very common. During the Civil War it was called variously Yankee clover and Rebel clover.
Japan earth. See Catechu.
Japan ink, a kind of writing ink, of a deep, glossy black when dry.
Japan varnish, a varnish prepared from the milky juice of the Rhus vernix, a small Japanese tree related to the poison sumac.
Ja·pan v. t. [imp. & p. p. Japanned p. pr. & vb. n. Japanning.]
1. To cover with a coat of hard, brilliant varnish, in the manner of the Japanese; to lacquer.
2. To give a glossy black to, as shoes. [R.]
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Japan
n 1: a string of more than 3,000 islands east of Asia extending
1,300 miles between the Sea of Japan and the western
Pacific Ocean [syn: Japanese Islands, Japanese
Archipelago]
2: a constitutional monarchy occupying the Japanese
Archipelago; a world leader in electronics and automobile
manufacture and ship building [syn: Nippon, Nihon]
3: lacquerware decorated and varnished in the Japanese manner
with a glossy durable black lacquer
4: lacquer with a durable glossy black finish, originally from
the orient
v : coat with a lacquer, as done in Japan