Nagasaki

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A city located on the island of Kyushu in Japan, known for its historical significance and as a target of atomic bombing during World War II
2. A significant port city in Japan recognized for its cultural heritage and as a key site in post-war reconstruction
3. An urban area in Japan that is notable for its beautiful landscapes, historical heritage, and tragic history associated with the atomic bomb in 1945

Etymology: Nagasaki is a proper noun, so its story is less about word-building than about the name's own meaning and history. The Japanese 長崎 is written with two characters: "naga" (長), meaning "long," and "saki" (崎), meaning "cape" or "promontory." The name describes the shape of the land around the harbour, a long spit of land reaching into the sea, and it was used for the port city on the island of Kyushu that became the country's main gateway to foreign trade. English took the name directly from Japanese, so it carries no Western intermediary. The city's status as the only port open to Dutch and Chinese traders during Japan's period of national isolation is why it became known to English speakers well before most other Japanese places, and the name passed into English with the ordinary spelling of its Japanese reading.