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• brazil
  brazil

  noun

  brazilwood.
• Brazil
  Brazil

  noun

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

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. 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 ² 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 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; see braise

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

brazil Brazil

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

"Andam"=here the gum called dragon's blood; in other places the dye-wood known as brazil.

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 01 by Sir Richard Francis Burton

Cheaper, faster-growing eucalyptus from Brazil, excluded from recent tariffs, has displaced domestic pulp.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Nexa Resources owns and operates two underground mines and an open-pit mine in Peru, two underground mines in Brazil, along with two zinc smelters in Brazil and one in Peru.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Few know how Joao Pedro handled his omission from the Brazil squad at the World Cup, where they were knocked out in the last 16 by Norway this summer.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

Brazil has taken a tough stance on the regulation of social media platforms, cracking down on disinformation and requiring users under 16 to have their accounts linked to those of their parents.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Forest fires in the northern state of Roraima that year claimed such a huge area that Brazil requested aid from the United Nations.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann