A World of Words: East Asia - Middle School

If you have a yen to learn more about East Asia, review this list of essential vocabulary. You'll explore the climate, land features, political structures, and religious traditions of countries like China, Japan, and North and South Korea. You don't have to be a samurai to conquer this list.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. agrarian
    relating to rural matters
  2. air pollution
    pollution of the atmosphere
  3. alluvial plain
    a flat resulting from repeated deposits of alluvial material by running water
  4. alpine
    relating to or characteristic of high mountains
  5. anticyclone
    winds spiraling outward from a high pressure center
  6. arable
    capable of being farmed productively
  7. archipelago
    a group of many islands in a large body of water
  8. authoritarian
    characteristic of an absolute ruler or absolute rule
  9. autonomous
    not controlled by outside forces
  10. bamboo
    woody tropical grass having hollow woody stems
  11. bamboo curtain
    an ideological barrier around communist China especially in the 1950s and 1960s
  12. basin
    the geographical area drained by a river and its tributaries
  13. Beijing
    capital of the People's Republic of China in the Hebei province in northeastern China; 2nd largest Chinese city
  14. Buddhism
    the teaching of Buddha that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct and wisdom and meditation releases one from desire and suffering and rebirth
  15. calligraphy
    beautiful handwriting
  16. Cantonese
    the dialect of Chinese spoken in Canton and neighboring provinces and in Hong Kong and elsewhere outside China
  17. capitalism
    an economic system based on private ownership of assets
  18. capitalist
    of an economic system based on private ownership
  19. catchment
    a structure in which water is collected
  20. Chang Jiang
    the longest river of Asia
  21. China
    a communist nation that covers a vast territory in eastern Asia; the most populous country in the world
  22. Chongqing
    a city in south-central China on the Chang Jiang
  23. climate
    the weather in some location averaged over a period of time
  24. coastal
    of or relating to the shoreline
  25. coastline
    the outline of a coast
  26. collective farm
    a farm operated collectively
  27. colonialism
    exploitation by a stronger country of a weaker one
  28. colony
    a geographical area controlled by a distant country
  29. commercial
    connected with or engaged in the exchange of goods
  30. commune
    a body of people living together and sharing everything
  31. communism
    a form of socialism that abolishes private ownership
  32. Confucianism
    the teachings of Confucius emphasizing love for humanity
  33. continental shelf
    the relatively shallow seabed surrounding a continent
  34. Dalai Lama
    chief lama and once ruler of Tibet
  35. dam
    a barrier constructed to contain the flow of water
  36. deficit
    an excess of liabilities over assets
  37. deforestation
    the state of being clear of trees
  38. demilitarized zone
    a zone from which military forces or operations or installations are prohibited
  39. democratic
    representing or appealing to the people at large
  40. dictator
    a ruler who is unconstrained by law
  41. dissident
    a person who objects to some established policy
  42. dormant
    not erupting but not extinct
  43. dynasty
    a sequence of powerful leaders in the same family
  44. earthquake
    vibration from underground movement along a fault plane
  45. East China Sea
    part of the Pacific Ocean near eastern Asia
  46. economy
    the system of production and distribution and consumption
  47. elephant
    a very large, plant-eating, gray animal with a trunk and floppy ears
  48. erosion
    condition in which the earth's surface is worn away
  49. exploitation
    the act of making use of and profiting from resources
  50. export
    sell or transfer abroad
  51. falun gong
    a spiritual movement that began in China in the latter half of the 20th century and is based on Buddhist and Taoist teachings and practices
  52. forestry
    the science of developing and caring for wooded areas
  53. geopolitics
    influence of location, demographics, etc. on foreign policy
  54. giant panda
    large black-and-white herbivorous mammal of bamboo forests of China and Tibet; in some classifications considered a member of the bear family or of a separate family Ailuropodidae
  55. gibbon
    smallest and most perfectly anthropoid arboreal ape having long arms and no tail; of southern Asia and East Indies
  56. glacier
    a slowly moving mass of ice
  57. Gobi Desert
    a desert in central China
  58. grassland
    land where grass or grasslike vegetation grows and is the dominant form of plant life
  59. Great Wall of China
    a fortification 1,500 miles long built across northern China in the 3rd century BC; it averages 6 meters in width
  60. Guangzhou
    a city on the Zhu Jiang delta in southern China
  61. gunpowder
    a mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur in a 75:15:10 ratio which is used in gunnery, time fuses, and fireworks
  62. Himalayas
    a mountain range extending 1500 miles on the border between India and Tibet; this range contains the world's highest mountain
  63. Hiroshima
    a port city on the southwestern coast of Honshu in Japan
  64. Hokkaido
    the second largest of the four main islands of Japan
  65. homogeneous
    all of the same or similar kind or nature
  66. Hong Kong
    formerly a Crown Colony on the coast of southern China in Guangdong province; leased by China to Britain in 1842 and returned in 1997; one of the world's leading commercial centers
  67. Honshu
    the central and largest of the four main islands of Japan
  68. hot spring
    a natural spring of water at a temperature of 70 F or above
  69. Huang He
    a major river of Asia in northern China
  70. human right
    any basic freedom to which all people are entitled
  71. humidity
    wetness in the atmosphere
  72. hydroelectric
    of or relating to or used in the production of electricity by waterpower
  73. ideograph
    a written or drawn character that represents a concept
  74. imperial
    relating to or associated with an empire
  75. import
    bring in from abroad
  76. industrial
    of or relating to commercial enterprise
  77. industrialize
    organize into systematic production or manufacture
  78. infrastructure
    basic facilities needed for the functioning of a country
  79. Inner Mongolia
    an autonomous region of northeastern China that was annexed by the Manchu rulers in 1635 and became an integral part of China in 1911
  80. isthmus
    a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas
  81. Japan
    a constitutional monarchy occupying the Japanese Archipelago
  82. kimono
    a loose robe originating in Japan
  83. Korean Peninsula
    an Asian peninsula (off Manchuria) separating the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan; the Korean name is Dae-Han-Min-Gook or Han-Gook
  84. Korea Strait
    a strait between Korea and Japan
  85. Kunlun Mountains
    a mountain range in western China that extends eastward from the Indian border for 1000 miles
  86. Kyoto
    a city in central Japan on southern Honshu
  87. Kyushu
    the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan
  88. lama
    a Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism
  89. landfill
    an area where waste is disposed of by burying it underground
  90. landlocked
    surrounded entirely or almost entirely by land
  91. Lhasa
    the sacred city of Lamaism
  92. loess
    a fine accumulation of clay and silt deposited by the wind
  93. macaque
    a monkey of rocky regions of Asia and Africa
  94. Macau
    a former Portuguese province on the south coast of China and two islands in the South China Sea; reverted to China in 1999
  95. mainland
    the main land mass of a country or continent
  96. managed economy
    a non-market economy in which government intervention is important in allocating goods and resources and determining prices
  97. Manchuria
    a region in northeastern China
  98. Mandarin
    the dialect of Chinese spoken in Beijing and adopted as the official language for all of China
  99. manufacture
    put together out of artificial or natural components
  100. Mao Zedong
    Chinese communist leader (1893-1976)
  101. massif
    a block of the earth's crust bounded by faults and shifted to form peaks of a mountain range
  102. migrate
    move from one country or region to another and settle there
  103. migration
    the movement of persons from one locality to another
  104. mineral
    a solid inorganic substance occurring in nature
  105. mineral resources
    natural resources in the form of minerals
  106. modernization
    the act of making up-to-date in appearance or behavior
  107. monastery
    the residence of a religious community
  108. Mongolia
    a landlocked socialist republic in central Asia
  109. monsoon
    a seasonal wind in southern Asia
  110. mountainous
    containing many mountains
  111. Mount Fuji
    an extinct volcano in south central Honshu that is the highest peak in Japan; last erupted in 1707; famous for its symmetrical snow-capped peak; a sacred mountain and site for pilgrimages
  112. Mt. Everest
    a mountain in the central Himalayas on the border of Tibet and Nepal; the highest mountain peak in the world (29,028 feet high)
  113. Nagasaki
    a city in southern Japan on Kyushu
  114. Nagoya
    an industrial city in southern Honshu
  115. natural resource
    material in the environment that can be used by people
  116. North Korea
    a communist country in the northern half of the Korean Peninsula; established in 1948
  117. Osaka
    port city on southern Honshu on Osaka Bay
  118. Outer Mongolia
    a landlocked socialist republic in central Asia
  119. Pacific Ocean
    the largest ocean in the world
  120. pagoda
    an Asian temple
  121. pangolin
    a toothless mammal with horny scales and a long snout
  122. papermaking
    the craft of making paper
  123. peasant
    one of a class of agricultural laborers
  124. peninsula
    a large mass of land projecting into a body of water
  125. plain
    an extensive tract of level, open land
  126. plateau
    a relatively flat raised area of land
  127. pollution
    contamination of the natural environment
  128. population control
    control over the growth of population; a government program
  129. port
    where people and merchandise can enter or leave a country
  130. precipitation
    the falling to earth of any form of water
  131. prefecture
    the district administered by a prefect
  132. printing press
    a machine used for printing
  133. province
    the territory in an administrative district of a nation
  134. Pyongyang
    capital of North Korea and an industrial center
  135. rain shadow
    an area that has little precipitation because some barrier causes the winds to lose their moisture before reaching it
  136. recession
    a situation in which the state of the economy declines
  137. reclamation
    the conversion of wasteland into land suitable for use
  138. rice paddy
    an irrigated or flooded field where rice is grown
  139. rural
    living in or characteristic of farming or country life
  140. samurai
    Japanese warrior who was a member of the feudal aristocracy
  141. sashimi
    very thinly sliced raw fish
  142. Seoul
    the capital of South Korea and the largest city of Asia
  143. Shanghai
    the largest city of China
  144. Shikoku
    the smallest of the four main islands of Japan
  145. Shintoism
    the ancient indigenous religion of Japan lacking formal dogma; characterized by a veneration of nature spirits and of ancestors
  146. shogun
    a hereditary military dictator of Japan
  147. shrine
    a place of worship associated with something sacred
  148. Sichuan
    a populous province of south central China
  149. Silk Road
    an ancient trade route between China and the Mediterranean
  150. South China Sea
    a tropical arm of the Pacific Ocean near southeastern Asia subject to frequent typhoons
  151. South Korea
    a republic in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula
  152. subtropical
    of or relating to or characteristic of conditions in the subtropics
  153. sumo
    a Japanese form of wrestling
  154. surplus
    a quantity much larger than is needed
  155. sushi
    cold rice and vinegar topped or rolled with raw fish
  156. sweatshop
    a factory where workers earn low pay in poor conditions
  157. tableland
    a relatively flat raised area of land
  158. Taipei
    the capital of Nationalist China; located in northern Taiwan
  159. Taiwan
    an island in southeastern Asia 100 miles off the coast of mainland China in the South China Sea
  160. Taklimakan Desert
    a desert in western China
  161. Taoism
    philosophical system developed by Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu advocating a simple honest life and noninterference with the course of natural events
  162. temperate
    mild or free from extremes
  163. terrace
    make land into level shelves, as for cultivation
  164. terrain
    a piece of ground having specific characteristics
  165. theocracy
    the belief in government by divine guidance
  166. Tianjin
    a major industrial center in northeastern China on the Grand Canal near the Yellow Sea; 3rd largest city in China
  167. Tibet
    an autonomous region of the Peoples Republic of China
  168. tidal wave
    an unusual (and often destructive) rise of water along the seashore caused by a storm or a combination of wind and high tide
  169. tofu
    a soft, white, cheeselike food made from soybeans
  170. Tokyo
    the capital and largest city of Japan
  171. tropical
    relating to part of the Earth's surface with hot climate
  172. tsunami
    a cataclysm resulting from a destructive sea wave
  173. typhoon
    a tropical cyclone in the western Pacific or Indian oceans
  174. Ulan Bator
    the capital and largest city of Mongolia
  175. urban
    relating to a city or densely populated area
  176. volcano
    a fissure in the earth's crust through which gases erupt
  177. wasabi
    green root used in Japanese cooking
  178. water pollution
    pollution of the water in rivers and lakes
  179. Xinjiang
    an autonomous province in far northwestern China on the border with Mongolia and Kazakhstan; the largest province in the People's Republic of China and the homeland of the Uighur people
  180. yak
    large, long-haired ox of Tibet
  181. Yalu River
    river in eastern Asia
  182. Yellow Sea
    part of the Pacific off the east coast of Asia
  183. yen
    the basic unit of money in Japan
  184. yuan
    the basic unit of money in China
  185. Zhu Jiang
    a river in southeast China that flows into the South China Sea
  186. zone
    an area or region distinguished from adjacent parts
Created on Wed Jan 25 15:42:13 EST 2017 (updated Tue Apr 04 12:31:28 EDT 2017)

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