adjective
- of, relating to, or characteristic of Japan, its people, or their language.
noun, plural Jap·a·nese.
- a native or inhabitant of Japan.
- a person of Japanese ancestry.
- the language of Japan. Abbreviation: Japn., Japn
adjective
- of, relating to, or characteristic of Japan, its people, or their language
noun
- plural -nese a native or inhabitant of Japan or a descendant of one
- the official language of Japan: the native language of approximately 100 million people: considered by some scholars to be part of the Altaic family of languages
1580s, Iapones; see Japan + -ese. Japanese beetle attested from 1919, accidentally introduced in U.S. 1916 in larval stage in a shipment of Japanese iris.