Hokkaido

//hɒˈkaɪdəʊ// name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A breed of dog originating from Japan, resembling a spitz dog breed, although not officially ranked as a spitz dog breed.

    "[…] Hokkaidos or Ainus (smaller versions of the Akita); Akitas, Japanese Spitz, Japanese Chin, Nippon Terriers and Kai Ken."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The second largest island of Japan, capital Sapporo.

    "In the past, the Ainu (their selfname meaning 'person'), traditionally huntergatherers, occupied not only Hokkaido but also a considerable part of the island of Honshu until the middle the eighteenth century, […]"

Synonyms

All synonyms
ainuezohonshukyushushikokuyezo

Example

More examples

"Hanako came all the way from Hokkaido in order to see her father."

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 北(ほっ)海(かい)道(どう) (Hokkaidō, “North Sea Circuit”), from Middle Chinese 北海 (pək-hʌi˧˥, “Northern sea”) + 道 (dáu, “Circuit”, a province-like administrative unit from Tang dynasty China).

Related phrases

Hokkaido wolforange Hokkaido

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.