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; see origin at 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

Eighty percent of the small coastal country's two million people are Catholics, a legacy of Spanish colonisation.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

Mr. Hahn is a translator himself—chiefly of fiction, from Spanish, Portuguese and French—and a former chair of Britain’s Translators Association.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

Shares in Spanish beauty group Puig jumped 5.3% after a report that Estee Lauder is seeking financing for a planned business combination.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

“The school has a lot to answer for, because, well, they did nothing,” her mother, Elma Chuquipa Sanchez, said in Spanish.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026

“Not at all. It’s beautiful. I don’t understand the Spanish songs you sing, but I like them very much.”

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar