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Tai·wan

(tīwän)

An island off the southeast coast of China, the seat of the Republic of China since 1949. Originally inhabited by Austronesian peoples, it was settled in the 1500s by Han Chinese, explored in 1590 by the Portuguese (who named the island Formosa), and held by the Dutch in the mid-1600s before being seized by China in 1683. Taiwan was ceded to Japan in 1895 and regained by China after World War II (1945). Taiwan broke off from mainland China in 1949 when the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-Shek fled from Mao Zedong's forces and established their government on the island. Taipei is the capital and the largest city.

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Taiwan

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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