Brazil

Meaning

1. A large Portuguese-speaking country in South America. Official name: Federative Republic of Brazil. Capital: Brasília.
2. A city, the county seat of Clay County, Indiana, United States.

Synonyms

Federative Republic of Brazil

Brasil

Brasilia

Belo Horizonte

brazilwood

Aracaju

Águas de São Pedro

Guanabara

federal district

the Federative Republic of Brazil

pernambuco wood

pau brasil

pernambucco wood

São Luis

Apalaí

𐐒𐑉𐐲𐑆𐐮𐑊

Embu

Hyphenated as

Bra‧zil

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɹə.ˈzɪl/

Etymology

From Portuguese Brasil, from brasil (“brazilwood”), originally ‘red like an ember’, from brasa (“ember”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *brasō (“gleed, crackling coal”), and -il (“-ile, -like, -y”) from Latin -īlis (“adjective suffix”). Alternatively, this is a folk etymology for a word for the plant related to Arabic ورس.
A discredited alternative etymology relates it to the mythical Celtic island of Brasil (or "Hy-Brasil"), possibly from Irish Uí Breasail, meaning "clan of Bresail".