formosa

Etymology

Came from Portuguese Formosa, as in Ilha Formosa (literally “Beautiful Island”) and Vila Formosa da Imperatriz (literally “Beautiful Town of the Empress”), from formosa (“beautiful, shapely”), from Latin fōrmōsus (“beautiful, well-formed”), from fōrma (“shape”) and -ōsus (“-ful”), literally “shapeful”. The Brazilian city was named in the 1840s in honour of Empress Teresa Cristina.