Portugal
Americannoun
noun
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Portugal has been independent since the twelfth century, except for sixty years of Spanish rule in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Portugal has been a member of NATO since 1949.
Famous for its explorers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Portugal followed such exploration closely with colonization. By the middle of the sixteenth century, Portugal controlled a vast overseas empire, including Brazil.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Portugal have struggled to fire at the tournament, winning just one of their three group games.
From BBC • Jul. 2, 2026
Rescuers from seven countries -- Venezuela, Chile, the United States, Portugal, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Mexico -- were involved in the painstaking operation.
From Barron's • Jul. 2, 2026
When they are playing against France or Portugal, whoever it may be, they will just up their game again.
From BBC • Jul. 2, 2026
Next up is a mouth-watering tie against either Portugal or Croatia.
From BBC • Jul. 2, 2026
“Nah, I don’t think so. People from Portugal speak Portuguese.”
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.