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brazil
8 dictionary results for: Brazil
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
bra·zil       [bruh-zil] Pronunciation Key
–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]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
Bra·zil       [bruh-zil] Pronunciation Key
–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.

Bra·zil·ian       [bruh-zil-yuhn] Pronunciation Key, adjective, noun
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Bra·zil       (brə-zĭl')  Pronunciation Key 


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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: 188,000,000.

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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').

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
brazil

noun
1. the largest Latin American country and the largest Portuguese speaking country in the world; located in the central and northeastern part of South America; world's leading coffee exporter 
2. three-sided tropical American nut with white oily meat and hard brown shell [syn: brazil nut

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
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.

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

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)

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Brazil, IN (city, FIPS 7174) Location: 39.52358 N, 87.12336 W
Population (1990): 7640 (3467 housing units)
Area: 7.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 47834

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