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Brazil - 6 dictionary results
bra⋅zil
[bruh-zil] 
–noun
| brazilwood. |
Origin:
1350–1400; ME brasile < ML < It < Sp brasil, deriv. of brasa live coal (the wood being red in color) < Gmc; see braise
1350–1400; ME brasile < ML < It < Sp brasil, deriv. of brasa live coal (the wood being red in color) < Gmc; see braise
Bra⋅zil
[bruh-zil] –noun
| a republic in South America. 164,511,366; 3,286,170 sq. mi. (8,511,180 sq. km). Capital: Brasília. |
Portuguese and Spanish, Brasil.
Official name, Federative Republic of Brazil.
Related forms:
Bra⋅zil⋅ian [bruh-zil-yuhn] , adjective, noun
[bruh-zil-yuhn] , adjective, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To Brazil
Bra·zil (brə-zĭl')  (click for larger image in new window) A country of eastern South America. The largest country in the continent, it was ruled by Portugal from 1500 to 1822, when it became a separate empire ruled by Pedro I, son of King John VI of Portugal. A republic was established in 1889. Brasília has been the capital since 1960; São Paulo is the largest city. Population: 190,000,000. Bra·zil'i·an adj. & n. Word History: The name Brazil is derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word brasil, the name of an East Indian tree with reddish-brown wood from which a red dye was extracted. The Portuguese found a New World tree related to the Old World brasil tree when they explored what is now called Brazil, and as a result they named the New World country after the Old World tree. The word brasil is cognate with French brésil, Old French berzi and bresil, Old Italian verzino, and Medieval Latin brezellum, brasilium, bresillum, braxile. The many Latin forms suggest a non-Latin, non-Romance origin, as in an East Indian term. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Brazil
Republic in eastern South America. It borders on every South American country except Chile and Ecuador. Its capital is Brasilia, and its largest city is São Paulo.
Note: The largest of the Latin-American countries, Brazil occupies almost half of South America.
Note: It is the world's leading coffee exporter.
Note: The only country in South America whose history was dominated by Portugal; it is the largest Portuguese-speaking country in the world.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Brazil
1555, from Sp./Port. terra de brasil "red-dye-wood land," from Sp. brasil or It. brasile, probably connected to Fr. braize (q.v.) for resemblance of color to a glowing ember (but O.It. form verzino suggests a possible connection with Ar. wars "saffron"). Originally the name of a type of wood from an E. Indian tree, used in making dye; the name later transferred to a similar S.Amer. species. The word in reference to the wood is attested in Eng. from 1386. Complicating matters is Hy Brasil a name applied by 1436 to one of the larger Azores Islands, later transf. to a legendary island or rock off the west coast of Ireland (sighted in 1791 at lat. 51° 10', long. 15° 58').
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Brazil
An operating system from Acorn Computers used on an ARM card which could be fitted to an IBM PC. There was also an ARM second processor for the BBC Microcomputer which used Brazil. Never used on the Archimedes(?).
(1994-12-05)
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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