Portuguese

[ pawr-chuh-geez, -gees, pohr-; pawr-chuh-geez, -gees, pohr- ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Portugal, its inhabitants, or their language.

noun

, plural Por·tu·guese.

1. a native or inhabitant of Portugal.
2. a Romance language spoken in Portugal, Brazil, and a few countries of Africa. : Pg, Pg.

Portuguese

/ ˌpɔːtjʊˈɡiːz /

noun

1. the official language of Portugal, its overseas territories, and Brazil: the native language of approximately 110 million people. It belongs to the Romance group of the Indo-European family and is derived from the Galician dialect of Vulgar Latin
2. -guese a native, citizen, or inhabitant of Portugal

adjective

1. relating to, denoting, or characteristic of Portugal, its inhabitants, or their language

Other Words From

• an·ti-Por·tu·guese adjective noun plural antiPortuguese
• non-Por·tu·guese adjective noun plural nonPortuguese
• pro-Por·tu·guese adjective noun plural proPortuguese

Word History and Origins

Origin of Portuguese¹

1580–90; < Portuguese português, Spanish portugués; Portugal, -ese

Example Sentences

People from those ports acquired a reputation among the Portuguese as the best hands for mining gold.

From Quartz

It plans to expand into Mexico and to bring on Portuguese instruction.

From TechCrunch

The Portuguese post office conducted some kind of investigation on the card.

From Washington Post

Ronaldo, whom Portuguese soccer officials said had no covid-19 symptoms, called Spadafora’s claim “a lie” in an Instagram Live video posted from his home.

From Washington Post

It didn’t help that Portugal’s foreign affairs minister, Rui Machete, had publicly withdrawn his apology to dos Santos under pressure from the Portuguese public.

From Ozy

In 2008, the Portuguese police did clear the McCanns of any wrongdoing and closed the case.

From The Daily Beast

In October 2013, the Portuguese police reopened the case in Portugal, paving the way for further investigations by Scotland Yard.

From The Daily Beast

I still have the beautiful Portuguese wire cage that the love birds came in.

From The Daily Beast

The city was founded in 1471 as a base for Moroccans to fight off the invading Portuguese, who occupied the coastal areas.

From The Daily Beast

The goal came off his tummy inside the Portuguese box, an apt way to score for a very gutsy player.

From The Daily Beast

The Portuguese frigate Cine captured by the Algerines, after a smart action.

From Project Gutenberg

Portuguese snuff seemed to be in favor and was delicately perfumed.

From Project Gutenberg

The circumstances of Spanish and Portuguese America were very different in every stage.

From Project Gutenberg

The revenge of the Portuguese was horrible, the Cahetes were hunted, slaughtered, and all but exterminated.

From Project Gutenberg

I cannot pretend to speak of the character or measures of these or any other Portuguese or Brazilian ministers.

From Project Gutenberg