Tywan

Proper noun

Taiwan

1. A partly-recognized country in East Asia consisting of a main island and 167 smaller islands. Official name: Republic of China. Capital: Taipei.
   • India was not alone in its predicament or in its policy. While a few developing countries like Taiwan, Mexico, and Thailand had made remarkable progress in agriculture and had experienced success in curbing their population increases, others were nearly as bad off as India, even without a drought.1971, Lyndon Johnson, “Feeding the Hungry: India's Food Crisis”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 224

   Synonyms:

   Republic of China, ROC, Chinese Taipei, Formosa

2. An island between the Taiwan Strait and Philippine Sea in East Asia.
   • The Government claims suzerainty over and receives tribute more or less regularly from Corea, and also from Anam, Siam, Burmah, and part of the Loochoo Islands, and it has recently erected the beautiful and extensive Island of Formosa, or Taiwan, hitherto attached to the province of Fo-Kien, into a...1888, James Harrison Wilson, chapter III, in China: Travels and Investigations in the "Middle Kingdom": A Study of Its Civilization and Possibilites, →OCLC, page 26

   Synonyms:

   Formosa

3. (historical) A former prefecture of Fujian province in China (Qing Empire) (1683–1885).
   • TAIWAN, or Chinese Formosa, is considered a Foo or district of the province of Fokien, and is governed by a Taoutai extraordinary, who, though responsible to the provincial viceroy, possesses the privilege of memorialising the Throne direct. “The district of Taiwan,” says the Chinese Government...1864, Robert Swinhoe, “Notes on the Island of Formosa.”, in The Journal of the Royal Geographic Society of London, volume XXXIV, London: John Murray, published 1865, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6

   Synonyms:

   Formosa

4. (historical) A former province of China (Qing Empire) (1885–1895).
   • In 1885 Governor LIU determined to reconstruct Taipei and make it the temporary capital until, the railway having on its way to Taiwan reached the old town of Changhua, in about the middle of Formosa, he should build a city near that place and make it, under the name of Taiwan, the capital of the...1896, J. D. Clark, Formosa, Shanghai: Shanghai Mercury, →OCLC, page 44

   Synonyms:

   Formosa

5. (historical) A former dependency of Japan (1895–1945).
   • Taiwan (Formosa) and Hōkotō (the Pescadores) were ceded to Japan upon the close of the Chinese War of 1895. Taiwan has a Governor-General with extreme powers, and is now an integral part of Japan.1902, “Appendix”, in The Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Malta, St Helena, Barbados, Cyrpus, the Channel Islands, the British Army & Navy (The British Empire Series), volume V, →OCLC, page 649

   Synonyms:

   Formosa

6. A province of the Republic of China (Taiwan) (from 1945).
   • Recent reports from Taiwan (Formosa), although fragmentary, begin to give a picture of economic conditions following the conclusion of the war. Now officially referred to as Taiwan Province, the island's former Japanese administration is being replaced by Chinese officials with little change, at...1946 February 16, “China”, in Foreign Commerce Weekly, volume XXII, number 7, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, United States Department of Commerce, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 26, column 2

   Synonyms:

   Formosa

See all 10 meanings of Taiwan