Spanish

American  

[span-ish] / ˈspæn ɪʃ /

adjective

1. of or relating to Spain, its people, or their language.

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noun

1. the Spanish people collectively.

2. a Romance language, the language of Spain, standard also in most of Latin America except Brazil. Sp, Sp.

Spanish British  

/ ˈspænɪʃ /

noun

1. the official language of Spain, Mexico, and most countries of South and Central America except Brazil: also spoken in Africa, the Far East, and elsewhere. It is the native language of approximately 200 million people throughout the world. Spanish is an Indo-European language belonging to the Romance group

2. (functioning as plural) Spaniards collectively

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Spanish language or its speakers

2. of or relating to Spain or Spaniards

Usage

Plural word for Spanish The plural form of Spanish can be Spanishes. This is used to refer to different varieties of the Spanish language, as in The Spanishes of Spain and Mexico are quite different. Phrases like varieties of Spanish and Spanish dialects are probably more commonly used to refer to multiple versions of the language, but the plural Spanishes is perfectly acceptable.

Other Word Forms

• anti-Spanish adjective
• half-Spanish adjective
• non-Spanish adjective
• pre-Spanish adjective
• pro-Spanish adjective
• pseudo-Spanish adjective
• quasi-Spanish adjective

Etymology

Origin of Spanish

Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; Spain, -ish ¹

Compare meaning

How does spanish compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Spaniard vs. Spanish

Example Sentences

Now, almost 36 years on from that life-changing moment during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, Martin Donnelly is headed back to the track he was meant to race on next, "looking for some closure".

From BBC

Multitudes of mediums spoke spirit messages in Greek, Latin, Spanish, and French, languages the operators of the spiritual telegraph claimed not to know.

From Literature

Across the last decade the total revenue of English top-flight teams has increased by 3.5 billion euros, while the combined increase across the Spanish, German, Italian and French top tiers was 5.9 billion euros.

From Barron's

British travellers to Gibraltar will show their passports to Spanish border officials, under a deal with the EU to remove the Rock's land border with Spain.

From BBC

The Spanish energy giant guides for adjusted net income of 7.6 billion euros in 2028 despite facing a declining trend in power prices and the negative effect of currency swings, the analysts say.

From The Wall Street Journal