pampas
Americanplural noun
singular
pampanoun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pampas
First recorded in 1695–1705; from Latin American Spanish, plural of pampa, from Quechua: “flat, unbounded plain”
Explanation
If you travel to Argentina, you may have a chance to visit the pampas, the fertile lowlands that cover part of South America. This noun is of American Spanish origin and ultimately from Quechua in the central Andes mountains in South America. Argentina is the country that is home to more pampas (treeless, grassy plains) than any other. The pampas may seem rather empty without the occasional gaucho, a cowboy of the pampas, and yet another word of South American Spanish origin.
Vocabulary lists containing pampas
South America - Middle School
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South America - High School
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2015 Spelling Bee - Words from Round 2
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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.
On the pampas they may have been equally valued for their relatively fatty meat.
From Science Magazine • Dec. 7, 2023
“Fall is the perfect time to scavenge for materials to use in your décor — pampas grass, pine cones, acorns, bittersweet, pussy willows, branches of leaves, dried hydrangeas, and whatever else you can find.”
From Seattle Times • Nov. 15, 2023
Years ago, when he read Bruce Chatwin’s “In Patagonia,” he retraced the writer’s 168-mile trek across the pampas of South America to the Cave of the Giant Sloth.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 3, 2023
For her installation, she had conjured up large-scale, eye-popping works with dried lotus leaves, dyed pampas grass and anthuriums radiant with iridescent paint.
From New York Times • Jun. 2, 2022
Some made their homes in the river world of the Amazon basin, others struck roots in Andean mountain valleys or the open pampas of Argentina.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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.
