Spanish

[ span-ish ]

adjective
  1. of or relating to Spain, its people, or their language.

noun
  1. the Spanish people collectively.

  2. a Romance language, the language of Spain, standard also in most of Latin America except Brazil. Abbreviation: Sp, Sp.

Origin of Spanish

1
Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at Spain, -ish1

Other words from Spanish

  • anti-Spanish, adjective
  • half-Spanish, adjective
  • non-Spanish, adjective, noun
  • pre-Spanish, adjective
  • pro-Spanish, adjective
  • pseudo-Spanish, adjective
  • quasi-Spanish, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Spanish in a sentence

  • It seemed almost wholly made up of canned goods, and boxes of half-Spanish cigars, and play ing-cards.

  • This was Teresa Maldo, the lovely half-Spanish girl who had been her favourite schoolmate at the convent over the hill.

    Studies in love and in terror | Marie Belloc Lowndes
  • “Yes,” said the young man, with a sigh; and his handsome half-Spanish countenance clouded over.

    Trapped by Malays | George Manville Fenn
  • She was not even “half-Spanish,” and therefore, as we used to say at college of certain unpopular people, was “a bad smoke.”

    Memoirs | Charles Godfrey Leland
  • A quaint, half-Spanish grace marked the picture of Southern chivalry.

    The Grey Lady | Henry Seton Merriman

British Dictionary definitions for Spanish

Spanish

/ (ˈspænɪʃ) /


noun
  1. the official language of Spain, Mexico, and most countries of South and Central America except Brazil: also spoken in Africa, the Far East, and elsewhere. It is the native language of approximately 200 million people throughout the world. Spanish is an Indo-European language belonging to the Romance group

  2. the Spanish (functioning as plural) Spaniards collectively

adjective
  1. of or relating to the Spanish language or its speakers

  2. of or relating to Spain or Spaniards

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012