Portugal
Americannoun
noun
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Portugal has been independent since the twelfth century, except for sixty years of Spanish rule in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Portugal has been a member of NATO since 1949.
Famous for its explorers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Portugal followed such exploration closely with colonization. By the middle of the sixteenth century, Portugal controlled a vast overseas empire, including Brazil.
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.
“I want to emphasize the importance of the players who come off the bench,” De la Fuente said after the Portugal game.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 10, 2026
Even within Europe, automotive labor costs in countries such as Portugal, Romania and Hungary are less than a third of German levels, according to VDA calculations.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 10, 2026
Pill said countries like Greece, Spain Portugal and Ireland had to go through "a lot of pain", with politicians making "difficult decisions" about changing their economies.
From BBC • Jul. 9, 2026
The Welsh singer died in a Portugal hospital on Wednesday night, according to a statement on her official website and social media accounts Thursday morning.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 9, 2026
There are some wooden fish hanging on the wall and a poster of a Portugal map over the couch.
From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
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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.