Ryukyu

• Ryūkyū, Riukiu

From Japanese 琉球 (Ryūkyū), from Middle Chinese 流求 (MC ljuw gjuw), a Chinese exonym for the island kingdom, of unclear origin. Doublet of Liuqiu.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹjuːkjuː/, /ɹiˈuːkjuː/

Ryukyu

1. A chain of islands in Japan roughly between Kyushu and Taiwan.

   Synonym: the Ryukyus

   • 1888 April, H. T. Stainton, “Nepticula Serella, N. SP.”, in Entomologist's Monthly Magazine‎^[1], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 261:

     White Butterflies in Japan.[...]Shortly after this I left Yokohama for the Ryukyu Islands, and next had my attention attracted by the "White" in the Bay of Kagoshima.

   • 2015 May 29, “Volcano erupts on remote southern Japanese island”, in Deutsche Welle‎^[2], archived from the original on 23 October 2015, Japan‎^[3]:

     About 140 people live on Kuchinoerabu island in the Ryukyu archipelago, which is approximately 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of the main southern island of Kyushu.

• (from Mandarin Chinese) Liuqiu, Liuchiu

• Ryukyu, Riukiu at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.
• Leon E. Seltzer, editor (1952), “Ryukyu Islands”, in The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World‎^[4], Morningside Heights, NY: Columbia University Press, →OCLC, page 1618, column 2: “Formerly sometimes spelled Liukiu, Liu-ch’iu, Lu-chu, Loo-choo, and Riukiu.”
• Saul B. Cohen, editor (1998), “Ryukyu Islands”, in The Columbia Gazetteer of the World‎^[5], volume 3, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 2674, columns 1, 2: “Other forms of the name are Lu-chu, Loo-choo, Liu-kiu, and Riukiu.”