Portuguese

The word “Portuguese” means relating to Portugal, its people, or its culture. In plain terms, relating to Portugal, a person from Portugal, or the language spoken there and in Brazil.

“Portuguese” is pronounced paw-chuh-GEEZ (/ˌpoɹ.t͡ʃəˈɡiz/ in IPA).

Here is “Portuguese” used in a sentence: “We tried authentic Portuguese pastries in Lisbon.”

Depending on how it is used, “Portuguese” can be an adjective and a noun.

The word “Portuguese” comes from Portuguese. From Portuguese português, built from "Portugal" plus "-ese.".

“Portuguese” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Portuguese” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: relating to Portugal, its people, or its culture.

They are closely related but distinct Romance languages, not dialects of each other. Both developed on the Iberian Peninsula and share much vocabulary, but they differ clearly in pronunciation, spelling, and everyday wording, so speakers often understand each other's written language better than the spoken form.

Brazil and Portugal share one language, Portuguese, but the Brazilian and European varieties differ in accent, some spelling, vocabulary, and small points of grammar. The differences are often compared to those between American and British English.

Portuguese does not change in the plural: one Portuguese, two Portuguese. To refer to the people as a whole, English uses "the Portuguese," as in "the Portuguese are famous for their seafaring history."

Portuguese is the language of Portugal and Brazil and is also official in several African countries, including Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe, as well as East Timor in Asia. Brazil has by far the largest number of speakers.