Portuguese
Americanadjective
noun
-
Portuguese
plural
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a native or inhabitant of Portugal.
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a Romance language spoken in Portugal, Brazil, and a few countries of Africa. Pg, Pg.
noun
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the official language of Portugal, its overseas territories, and Brazil: the native language of approximately 110 million people. It belongs to the Romance group of the Indo-European family and is derived from the Galician dialect of Vulgar Latin
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a native, citizen, or inhabitant of Portugal
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of Portuguese
1580–90; < Portuguese português, Spanish portugués; see Portugal, -ese
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.
Early Portuguese colonizers described those forests as forming a dense tangle, or "maranhão."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026
Appointed in July 2025, Edu's remit included Greek side Olympiacos and Portuguese club Rio Ave, who are also owned by Marinakis.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Other backers in the most recent transaction include the investment arm of publicly traded cybersecurity company Zscaler and Bright Pixel Capital, the venture arm of Portuguese retailer Sonae.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
The property has been reported to feature a Portuguese Colonial-style villa with a large party room, along with watchtowers and 12 cannons that give the retreat a decidedly fortresslike appearance.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
She said we couldn’t possibly understand what their social milieu was, before the Portuguese came.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
