Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various Japanese verse forms alternating lines of five and seven morae with an additional last line of seven morae, especially tanka.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A canoe; hence any box or object shaped like a canoe.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Japanese : wa, Japanese, of Japan (from Early Middle Chinese ˀwa, Japan, the Japanese, also the source of Mandarin , archaic name for Japan) + ka, song, poem (from Middle Chinese ka; see tanka).]

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