brazil

¹ American  

[bruh-zil] / brəˈzɪl /

noun

1. brazilwood.

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Brazil ² American  

[bruh-zil] / brəˈzɪl /

noun

1. a republic in South America. 3,286,170 sq. mi. (8,511,180 sq. km). Brasília.

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Brazil ¹ British  

/ brəˈzɪl /

noun

1. a republic in South America, comprising about half the area and half the population of South America: colonized by the Portuguese from 1500 onwards; became independent in 1822 and a republic in 1889; consists chiefly of the tropical Amazon basin in the north, semiarid scrub in the northeast, and a vast central tableland; an important producer of coffee and minerals, esp iron ore. Official language: Portuguese. Religion: Roman Catholic majority. Currency: real. Capital: Brasília. Pop: 201 009 622 (2013 est). Area: 8 511 957 sq km (3 286 470 sq miles)

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brazil ² British  

/ brəˈzɪl /

noun

1. Also called: brazil wood.  the red wood obtained from various tropical leguminous trees of the genus Caesalpinia , such as C. echinata of America: used for cabinetwork

2. the red or purple dye extracted from any of these woods See also brazilin

3. short for brazil nut

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Brazil Cultural  

1. 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.

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The only country in South America whose history was dominated by Portugal; it is the largest Portuguese-speaking country in the world.

The largest of the Latin-American countries, Brazil occupies almost half of South America.

It is the world's leading coffee exporter.

Other Word Forms

• Brazilian adjective
• anti-Brazilian adjective
• pro-Brazilian adjective
• pseudo-Brazilian adjective

Etymology

Origin of brazil

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English brasile, from Medieval Latin, from Italian, from Spanish brasil, derivative of brasa “live coal” (the wood being red in color), from Germanic; braise

Example Sentences

Saquon Barkley made a dream debut for the Philadelphia Eagles as they beat the Green Bay Packers in the NFL's first ever trip to brazil.

From BBC • Sep. 9, 2024

Before manufacturers could produce them artificially, reds came from minerals, bugs, plants: madder root, kermes, cochineal, brazil wood, cinnabar.

From Slate • Aug. 12, 2019

Put the brazil nuts into another freezer bag and also bash them, so you end up with different-sized nut rubble.

From The Guardian • Dec. 13, 2018

Teaching girls self defense classes might be wise, not just in brazil.

From New York Times • Nov. 9, 2017

Pegolotti in one passage details kinds of brazil under the names of Verzino salvatico, dimestico, and columbino.

From The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2 by Yule, Henry