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.

Compare Meanings

Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.

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

Words Nearby Spanish

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

How to use Spanish in a sentence

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