What does yapon mean?
Yapon is an obsolete English noun meaning a Japanese person. It belongs to the older European vocabulary for Japan and the Japanese, alongside such related forms as Japon, Japonese, and Japanese. Historically, writers could use yapon in general prose, travel writing, reference works, and historical description. The word is now encountered chiefly in dictionaries and older books rather than ordinary contemporary English. Because it records an obsolete way of referring to a nationality, modern writers should generally avoid it; it can sound antiquated, insensitive, or offensive, and it should not be confused with the separate shortened form Jap, whose use is now widely regarded as offensive. Yapon is nevertheless worth knowing as a historical lexical item: it shows how names for Japan circulated through French and other European languages before settling into the modern forms Japanese and Japan. In present-day writing, Japanese person or, when relevant, a Japanese national will usually be clearer and more appropriate, while the person’s preferred identification may be Japanese.
nounAn obsolete noun for a Japanese person.
- An obsolete noun for a Japanese person.
"In nineteenth-century usage, a traveller of Japanese birth might be referred to as a yapon."
"In that period, a traveller of Japanese birth might be referred to as a yapon."
"The antiquarian noted that nineteenth-century writers sometimes used the term yapon."
The regular historical plural is yapons, but the term itself is now obsolete.
"Older texts sometimes referred to several yapons at the trading port."
Once a historical name for a Japanese person, yapon survives mainly as a linguistic fossil.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of yapon
Yapon is an English borrowing of French yapon, an older form of the European name Japon used for Japan and the Japanese. It belongs to the same historical naming tradition as Japanese, Japonese, and Japan, reflecting the influence of French, Spanish, and Portuguese forms derived ultimately from the name used for Japan in Asian languages.
How yapon is actually used
Obsolete and unsuitable in modern writing. It may sound antiquated, insensitive, or offensive; Japanese person or Japanese national is ordinarily preferable.
Easily confused with yapon
Yapon is an older full form for a Japanese person, whereas Jap is a shortened form now widely regarded as offensive.