Formosan

From Formosa +‎ -an.

Formosan (not comparable)

1. Of or relating to Formosa or people of Formosa.
   • 1905, Archibald Little, “The Island Empire: Japan”, in The Far East‎^[1], Oxford: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 283:

     The great Jesuit missionary, St. Francis Xavier, also spent some time at Öita, and Otomo, its lord, was the first Daimio to embrace Christianity. Still farther south, and in line with these, stretches the chain of the Liuchiu islands, the westernmost of the group lying within 50 miles of the Formosan coast.

   • 2025 April 22, Hua Meng-ching, Hollie Younger, “Formosan black bear shot and killed in Hualien”, in Taipei Times‎^[2], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 July 2025, Taiwan News, page 2‎^[3]:

     A patrolman shot and killed a Formosan black bear in self defense last night, after it turned on the man who saw it attacking a dog in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪). […]
     Jhuosi Township Mayor Huang Pin-lun (黃品綸) announced news of the bear’s capture this morning and expressed apologies to the villagers for the fear and disruption caused by the recent bear sightings. […]
     The Hualien branch has been working with the Formosan Wild Sound Conservation Science Center since 2020 to monitor Formosan black bears in Jhuosi Township, branch Director Huang Chun-tse (黃群策) said.

Formosan (plural Formosans)

1. An inhabitant, resident, or a person of descent from Formosa.
   • 1926, Hosea Ballou Morse, The Chronicles of the East India Company trading to China‎^[4], volume 1, Clarendon Press, page 48:

     From his base at Amoy the Emperor Kanghi dispatched a fleet of 600 junks against Formosa. In two naval battles, on July 1 and 7, 1683, they defeated the Formosans, and occupied Penghu, one of the Pescadores Islands, forming the key of Taiwan.

Formosan

1. genitive singular of Formosa