Yamato

English

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

Yamato

  • /jɑˈmɑtoʊ/
  • /ˈjɑːmətəʊ/

Where it comes from

From Japanese 大和 (Yamato), itself of uncertain derivation, but likely related to 山 (yama, “mountains”). See Proto-Japonic *yamatə.

proper noun

  1. historical Ancient Japan. The museum curator said that the sword originated from the Yamato period in Japan.
  2. Any of several towns in Japan; see Wikipedia.
  3. The imperial house which formerly ruled Japan from the province of Yamato; by extension, the predominant ethnic group of Japan. In Japanese society, Koreans are viewed as being of a lower rung on the social ladder compared to Yamato people.
  4. A male given name from Japanese.
  5. A surname from Japanese. For quotations using this term, see Citations:Yamato.

noun Yamatos · Yamato

  1. A member of the Yamato court which formerly ruled Japan.
  2. A member of the ethnic group that comprises over 90% of the population of Japan, native to the islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. When the Guptas were ruling in India and the Tang were ruling in China and the Yamatos were ruling in Japan, no one was ruling in Australia! The people of Australia were nomads.
  3. One of a class of battleships used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second World War.

Translations

Every language

name ancient name for Japan

한국어야마토 Yamato
日本語大和 Yamato, やまと Yamato, 倭 Yamato
中文大和 Dàhé, 倭 Wō
PortuguêsYamato
РусскийЯма́то Jamáto

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"Yamato." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/yamato. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

Yamato. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/yamato

Chicago

"Yamato." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/yamato.

BibTeX
@misc{yamato_2026,
  title = {Yamato},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/yamato},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}