# Jamaica

Pronunciation: say "juh-MAY-kuh" US/UK /d͡ʒəˈmeɪ.kə/, AUS /d͡ʒəˈmæɪ.kə/

## Proper noun

1. An island and country in the Caribbean Sea, lying south of Cuba and west of Hispaniola.
   - Simple: A large island country in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba.
   - _Jamaica gained its independence from Britain in 1962._
   - _Sprinters from Jamaica dominated several events at the Olympics._

## Other meanings

- (proper noun) A neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City.
- (proper noun) A residential neighborhood in the southwestern part of Boston, Massachusetts, known as Jamaica Plain.
- (proper noun) A town in southern Vermont, in the United States.

## Origin

This comes from the Taíno name Xaymaca, meaning "land of wood and water," from the Taíno word maca ("wood").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/jamaica (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).