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portuguese

UK/ˌpɔː.t͡ʃəˈɡiːz/US/ˌpoɹ.t͡ʃəˈɡiz/
adjectiveB1+2 meaningsCommon in everyday speech and writing · #5,381 of 15,258mostly written

Portuguese is the language of Lisbon and of Brazil. Speak Portuguese, Portuguese food, a Portuguese passport.

It has more speakers in Brazil than anywhere else by a very wide margin, and Brazilian and European Portuguese differ in pronunciation enough that speakers notice at once. It is the official language of nine countries across four continents, a legacy of the Portuguese empire. Note that Portuguese is one of the few nationality words that is the same in singular and plural.

Definitions of portuguese

  1. 1adjectiveportugueseBelonging to Portugal or its language.B1+

    “We ate grilled sardines in a little Portuguese restaurant by the sea.”

  2. 2nounitselfThe language itself.B1

    “Roughly two hundred and sixty million speak Portuguese.”

portuguese is a language or nationality.

Where it comes from

  1. Portuguese

    português

  2. English

    Portuguese

  3. English, today

    portuguese

Portuguese comes from Portuguese português. by surface analysis, Portugal + -ese.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in News & Communication

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