Formosa

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Formosa former name for Taiwan, an island off the south-east coast of China where the Nationalist Chinese State was set up by Chiang Kai-shek in 1949; the name is from Portuguese and means ‘beautiful’. The literary impostor George Psalmanazar (1679?–1763) presented himself as a native of Formosa, compiling a catechism in its supposed language.

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES

Formosa

views updated May 09 2018

Formosa See Taiwan

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Formosa

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