phonetic
trad. (臺灣/台灣)		臺/台	灣
simp. (台湾)		台	湾

Appears to be first attested in a memorial to the imperial government by official He Kai (何楷) in 1635:

今欲靖寇氛，非墟其窟不可。其窟維何？臺灣是也。臺灣在彭湖島外，距漳、泉止兩日夜程，地廣而腴。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

今欲靖寇氛，非墟其窟不可。其窟维何？台湾是也。台湾在彭湖岛外，距漳、泉止两日夜程，地广而腴。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 17^th-18^th century, History of Ming

Jīn yù jìng kòufēn, fēi xū qí kū bùkě. Qí kū wéi hé? Táiwān shì yě. Táiwān zài Pénghú dǎo wài, jù Zhāng, Quán zhǐ liǎng rì yè chéng, dì guǎng ér yú. [Pinyin]

If we are to subdue the bandits, we must destroy their hideout. Where is their hideout, then? It's Taiwan. Taiwan is further from Penghu, with a distance of two days away from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, and the land is large and fertile.

Officially, no later than 1684 with the creation of Taiwan Prefecture (臺灣府). A phonetic transliteration of an ethnonym of a tribe (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?) in the southwest part of the island in the area of Anping, Tainan, southwest Taiwan, variously recorded in Dutch records as Tayouan or Tayowan or Taiouwang. A Dutch missionary referred to this group as Taiouwang no later than 1636. Other phonetic transliterations in Chinese characters included 大員 [1603], 大圓 [1617], 臺員, and 大灣 [circa 1624], as placenames initially referring to a sandbank peninsula that later silted up now wholly part of the island in the area of modern-day Anping District, Tainan that eventually became the name of the entire island.

Possibly derived from Siraya. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

By surface analysis, 臺 / 台 (tái, “terraced”) +‎ 灣 / 湾 (wān, “bay”).

臺灣

1. (～島) Taiwan (island)

   臺灣原住民族／台湾原住民族  ―  Táiwān yuánzhùmínzú  ―  Taiwanese aboriginal people

   臺灣文學專題／台湾文学专题  ―  Táiwān wénxué zhuāntí  ―  special topics on Taiwanese literature

2. (～省) Taiwan Province (administrative division in both the Republic of China and People's Republic of China)
3. (～地區) Taiwan Area (Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and some minor islands, which are de facto governed by the Republic of China)

   • 金門縣縣長星期一呼籲當局允許該縣直接從大陸採購疫苗，有這一願望的臺灣縣市恐怕不止金門一家，但民進黨當局會否為保蒼生之安開這個口子，非常令人懷疑。 [MSC, trad.]
     金门县县长星期一呼吁当局允许该县直接从大陆采购疫苗，有这一愿望的台湾县市恐怕不止金门一家，但民进党当局会否为保苍生之安开这个口子，非常令人怀疑。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2021 May 19, 《台湾抗疫，民进党当局太分心了》, in Global Times, →ISSN, issue 5360, page 14

     Jīnmén Xiàn xiànzhǎng xīngqīyī hūyù dāngjú yǔnxǔ gāi xiàn zhíjiē cóng Dàlù cǎigòu yìmiáo, yǒu zhè yī yuànwàng de Táiwān xiàn shì kǒngpà bùzhǐ Jīnmén yī jiā, dàn Mínjìndǎng dāngjú huìfǒu wèi bǎo cāngshēng zhī ān kāi zhège kǒuzi, fēicháng lìng rén huáiyí. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

• Although use of the full traditional form 臺 is encouraged by the ROC Ministry of Education, the alternate traditional form 台 is now more commonly used in Taiwan, and is the standard in Hong Kong.^[1] Further, the form 台湾, coincidentally the Simplified Chinese form, is frequently used in Taiwan.
• In Min Nan, the character 灣／湾 is usually read as oan (e.g., 海灣／海湾). The reading of oân in the context of the toponym Taiwan is an exception stemming from the historical variant 臺員／台员, and 臺灣／台湾 is properly read as Tâi-oân.

• (Taiwan): (historical, poetic) 福爾摩沙／福尔摩沙 (Fú'ěrmóshā), (poetic) 寶島／宝岛 (Bǎodǎo)

Others:

• → Arabic: تَايْوَان (tāywān)
• → Armenian: Թայվան (Tʻayvan)
• → Bulgarian: Тайван (Tajvan)
• → Burmese: ထိုင်ဝမ် (htuing-wam)
• → Catalan: Taiwan
• → Czech: Tchaj-wan, Taiwan
• → Dutch: Taiwan
• → English: Taiwan
• → Korean: 타이완 (Taiwan)
• → Portuguese: Taiwan
• → French: Taïwan
• → Manchu: ᡨᠠᡳᠸᠠᠨ (taiwan)
• → Persian: تایوان (tâyvân)
• → Polish: Tajwan
• → Russian: Тайвань (Tajvanʹ)
• → Spanish: Taiwán
• → Tibetan: ཐའེ་ཝན (tha'e wan)
• → Turkish: Tayvan
• → Zhuang: Daizvanh

• 中華民國／中华民国 (Zhōnghuá Mínguó)
• 中華臺北／中华台北 (Zhōnghuá Táiběi)

Kanji in this term
臺	灣
たい Hyōgai	わん Hyōgai
on'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 臺灣 – see the following entry.

【台湾たいわん】 [proper noun] Taiwan

(This term, 臺灣, is the kyūjitai of the above term.)

Hanja in this term
臺	灣

臺灣 • (Daeman) (hangeul 대만)

1. hanja form^? of 대만 (“Taiwan”)

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
臺	灣

臺灣

1. chữ Hán form of Đài Loan (“Taiwan”).