JAPAN
japan
(noun) lacquer with a durable glossy black finish, originally from the orient
japan
(noun) lacquerware decorated and varnished in the Japanese manner with a glossy durable black lacquer
Japan, Japanese Islands, Japanese Archipelago
(noun) a string of more than 3,000 islands to the east of Asia extending 1,300 miles between the Sea of Japan and the western Pacific Ocean
Japan, Nippon, Nihon
(noun) a constitutional monarchy occupying the Japanese Archipelago; a world leader in electronics and automobile manufacture and ship building
japan
(verb) coat with a lacquer, as done in Japan
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Proper noun
Japan
An island nation in the Pacific Ocean, located to the east of China, Korea and Russia.
Synonyms: Jap., Jpn., Land of the Rising Sun, Japonia, Nihon, Nippon, Yamato, State of Japan, Chrysanthemum Nation
Etymology
Noun
japan (countable and uncountable, plural japans)
A hard black enamel varnish containing asphalt.
Lacquerware.
Verb
japan (third-person singular simple present japans, present participle japanning, simple past and past participle japanned)
(transitive) To varnish with japan.
Source: Wiktionary
Ja*pan", n. Etym: [From Japan, the country.]
Definition: Work varnished and figured in the Japanese manner; also, the
varnish or lacquer used in japanning.
Ja*pan", a.
Definition: 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.] Gay.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition