This is the 118th most frequent Japanese word.
本
"本" (hon) means "book" or "origin" in English, depending on context.
Here, 本 (ほん) is part of the word 日本 (にほん, Nihon), meaning 'Japan'. It signifies 'origin' or 'foundation' in this context.
日本は私の祖国です。
Japan is my home country.
In this sentence, 本 (ほん, hon) refers to a 'book', its most common meaning.
この本はとても面白いです。
This book is very interesting.
In this example, 本 (ほん) is used as a counter for long cylindrical objects like pencils in Japanese.