paramo

[ par-uh-moh, pahr-uh- ]

/ ˈpær əˌmoʊ, ˈpɑr ə- /

noun, plural par·a·mos.

a high, cold plateau of South America.

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Discover The Influence Of Portuguese On English Via This Quiz!

We’ve gathered some interesting words donated to English from Portuguese … as well as some that just don’t translate at all. Do you know what they mean?

Question 1 of 11

Which of the following bird names traces its immediate origin to Portuguese?

owl

crow

piranha

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Words nearby paramo

parametrize, paramilitary, paramimia, paramita, paramnesia, paramo, paramorph, paramorphine, paramorphism, paramount, paramour

Origin of paramo

1750–60; < American Spanish; Spanish páramo barren plain; presumably of pre-Latin orig.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for paramo

All writers but one agree with Paramo on the subject of the establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 6 (of 10)|Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
Paramo, the name given to an elevated track of desert on the Andes.
The Nuttall Encyclopaedia|Edited by Rev. James Wood
But to remain in a paramo during the night, even though thus protected, is often a painful ordeal.
The Young Llanero|W.H.G. Kingston
Paramo (a desert) is the treeless, uninhabited, uncultivated rolling steppes just below the snow-limit.
The Andes and the Amazon|James Orton

“We must be prepared to push rapidly across the Paramo,” observed Padillo.
In New Granada|W.H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for paramo

paramo

/ (ˈpærəˌməʊ) /

noun plural -mos

a high plateau in the Andes between the tree line and the permanent snow line

Word Origin for paramo

C18: American Spanish, from Spanish: treeless plain

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012