iwo jima

English - English

Definition of iwo jima in English English dictionary

the largest of the Volcano Islands of Japan

A volcanic island located in the Satsunan Shoto, an island group south of Kyushu, also known as Satsuma Iojima

A volcanic island in Japan’s Ogasawara Islands chain, officially called Iōtō in Japanese

A decisive battle during World War II

an island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to Japan, where US forces won a very difficult battle in World War II. There is a statue in Washington, D.C., of US Marines raising the US flag on Iwo Jima after they had won the battle. Island, the middle of the three Volcano Islands, Japan. Situated in the western Pacific, it is about 5 mi (8 km) long, 800 yards to 2.5 mi (730 m-4 km) wide, and has an area of 8 sq mi (20 sq km). It was under Japanese control until 1945, when it was the scene of one of the severest campaigns of World War II. After extensive bombing by U.S. planes (December 1944-February 1945), it was invaded by U.S. marines and was finally completely taken by mid-March; it became a strategic base for U.S. planes en route to Japan. In 1968 it was returned to Japan

island in the northern Pacific Ocean; site of a bloody World War II battle in 1945 between United States Marines and Japanese military forces (the island was captured by USA in 1945)

Hyphenation

I·wo jima

Turkish pronunciation

aywō cimı

Pronunciation

/ˈīwō ˈʤēmə/ /ˈaɪwoʊ ˈʤiːmə/

Etymology

() From Japanese 硫黄島 (iōjima). Prior to Japanese spelling reforms in the 1940s, this word was spelled いわうじま (iwaujima). Historical /au/ becomes IPA: via regular phonological rules resulting in . With the exception of the low vowel /a/, /w/ is no longer phonetically realized. Thus, the word becomes IPA: . The English spelling is based on the historical Japanese spelling, not pronunciation, as evident of retaining the "w". The long vowels are often ignored thus the loss of the macrons. Spacing is inconsistent as Iwojima is not uncommon. Iwo-Jima with a hyphen is also used. The kanji 島 may be read as either jima (IPA: ʥima) (the voiced form of shima due to compounding) or tō (IPA: toː). It is often the case that the correct reading of kanji is unclear, and sometimes multiple readings are recognized. Original inhabitants claim that the correct reading is "Iōtō". In June, 2007 Japan officially restored the name to Iōtō.