Java
Americannoun
-
the main island of Indonesia. 51,032 sq. mi. (132,173 sq. km).
-
(usually lowercase) coffee.
a cup of java.
noun
noun
Discover More
Java is one of the world's most densely populated regions.
It was under Dutch rule from 1619 to 1949.
Etymology
Origin of Java
1550–60; of obscure origin; possibly from Sanskrit yāvadvīpa, yāvaka dvīpa “barley island” (the island was well known for the barley plant)
Explanation
Java is an informal word for "coffee," so the next time you go out for breakfast, you can jauntily order a cup of java. In North America, java has been slang for "coffee" since about 1850. Java is a coffee-producing region of what was then the Dutch East Indies and is now Indonesia, and while the term originally referred to coffee grown in Java, by the 20th century it was shorthand for any coffee. If you use this word these days, you're just as likely to be talking about the computer programming language called Java.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Satrio Wiratama was born in November last year in Taman Safari Indonesia, a zoo in Cisarua, West Java, to a pair of pandas loaned by China to Indonesia.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
Hundreds of people descended on a girls' boarding school in the Indonesian village of Tlogosari, Central Java on 2 May, shouting chants and waving banners.
From BBC • May 13, 2026
Zulmi was buried in a military cemetery in his hometown in Bandung, West Java, while Ichwan and Farizal were laid to rest in their respective hometowns in Central Java and Yogyakarta.
From Barron's • Apr. 5, 2026
At least seven people have died and more than 80 others are missing after a landslide hit Indonesia's West Java province, officials said.
From BBC • Jan. 24, 2026
For at least the last thousand years, trade connected New Guinea to the technologically much more advanced societies of Java and China.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
