Word origins

• beteelaA type of muslin from the East Indies, formerly used for cravats, veils, etc.
• bicheiroOne who runs an illegal numbers game in South America.
• biribaThe tropical tree (Rollinia mucosa, syn. Rollinia deliciosa), native to South America, cultivated widely.
• Boa VistaA municipality, the state capital of Roraima, Brazil.
• Bocca TigrisSynonym of Bogue (“Chinese strait”).
• BolsonarismThe philosophy and politics of Jair Bolsonaro.
• BotocudoOne of a tribe of South American Indians of eastern Brazil.
• BraboA surname from Portuguese.
• BragançaA district in northeastern Portugal.
• braguinhaSynonym of cavaquinho.
• BrasíliaA municipality, the capital city of Brazil; the capital of Distrito Federal, Brazil.
• bruxoA Brazilian witch/healer.
• bualA variety of madeira (wine) that is less sweet than malmsey.
• bulseA bag or package of diamonds, gold dust or other precious materials.
• cabookLaterite.
• Cabo VerdeSynonym of Cape Verde: an archipelago and country in West Africa.
• cachaçaA type of distilled spirit made from fermented sugar cane juice, popular in Brazil, used as one of the ingredients of a caipirinha.
• cachupaA slow-cooked stew of hominy, beans, cassava, sweet potato, and fish or meat, a traditional dish of Cape Verde.
• cagaitaA Brazilian tree, Eugenia dysenterica.
• CaicóA municipality of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
• CairesA surname from Portuguese.
• CairuA municipality of Bahia, Brazil.
• CamõesLuís de Camões, a 16th-century Portuguese poet.
• Campo FormosoA municipality of Bahia, Brazil.
• CananorFormer name of Kannur (“Indian city”).
• Candomblecistof the Candomblé religion
• cangaceiroA type of nomadic bandit in Northeast Brazil.
• cantigaA medieval monophonic song, sometimes religious, characteristic of the Galician-Portuguese lyric.
• Cape CoastA city and port in Cape Coast district, in the Central Region of Ghana, site of the Cape Coast Castle World Heritage site.
• Cape ComorinSynonym of Kanyakumari.
• Cape of Good HopeA headland in southwestern South Africa, near Cape Town.
• Cape VerdeAn archipelago and country in West Africa. Official name: Republic of Cabo Verde. Capital: Praia.
• capim-gorduraSynonym of molasses grass.
• capitaniaSynonym of captaincy (“former division of Spanish and Portuguese empires”).
• capoeiristaA practitioner of capoeira.
• captain of sea and warThe most senior naval officer rank used in Lusophone countries, usually equal in rank to the Anglophone naval rank of captain.
• capulanaA type of sarong worn primarily in Mozambique.
• carapatoAny of the genus Amblyomma of South American ticks.
• carapoThe banded knifefish, a Brazilian fish, Gymnotus carapo.
• Carnation RevolutionA revolution and military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the colonialist and authoritarian Estado Novo on 25 April 1974 in Lisbon, Portugal, leading to major cultural and political changes.
• cascalhoA deposit of pebbles, gravel, and ferruginous sand in which diamonds may be found.
• Castelo BrancoA district in central Portugal.
• cataplanaA metal clamshell cooking dish from Portugal, used to cook certain seafood. It can be sealed using a clamp on either side of the assembly.
• cavaleroA cavalier.
• cavallya carangoid fish of species Caranx hippos, of the Atlantic coast.
• cavaquinhoA small guitar-string instrument of Portuguese origin, with four wire or gut strings, played with a plectrum.
• caxirolaA Brazilian percussion instrument consisting of a closed plastic basket with a flat bottom filled with small synthetic particles. It is based on the caxixi.
• caxixiA small, indirectly struck idiophone filled with seeds, commonly used in Brazil.
• celamimA traditional Portuguese unit of dry measure, equivalent to 0.4–0.6 L in different 19th-century contexts.
• Center-West RegionSynonym of Central-West Region: A macroregion of Brazil, comprising the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and the Distrito Federal.
• Central-West RegionA macroregion of Brazil, comprising the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and the Distrito Federal.
• cherootA cigar with square-cut ends.
• ChiumbaA watercourse in Huíla Province, Angola.
• ChiumbiA village in Huambo Province, Angola.
• chocalhoA shaker (kind of musical instrument).
• ChorrochóA municipality of Bahia, Brazil.
• chouriçoA Portuguese spiced sausage.
• cirandaA traditional Brazilian children's dance.
• coatimundiSynonym of coati
• cobra de capelloAn Indian cobra (Naja naja), a highly venomous Indian snake.
• coladeiraA dance and associated musical genre of Cape Verde.
• ColoaneAn island in southern Macau.
• concelhoA county or municipality in Portugal.
• condessaA Portuguese countess.
• conscientizationA social concept, grounded in Marxist critical theory, that focuses on achieving an in-depth understanding of the world, allowing for the perception and exposure of social and political contradictions.
• coquilla nutThe hard-shelled fruit of a Brazilian palm (Attalea funifera), which is used to make ornamental articles.
• CortalimA village in Goa, India.
• covadoA traditional Portuguese unit of length, usually about equal to 0.6 meters and approximating the length of a forearm and hand.
• covidA cubit.
• coxinhaA popular food consisting of chopped or shredded chicken meat, covered in dough, molded into a shape resembling a chicken leg, battered and fried.
• CranganoreFormer name of Kodungallur (“a town in Kerala, India”).
• criouloA native horse of South America, known for its speed and endurance.
• CuanzaA community in Camacupa municipality, Bié province, Angola.
• cuicaA Brazilian friction drum often used in samba music.
• cupuassuA tropical fruit tree related to cacao, Thebroma grandiflora, the source of an edible fruit whose seeds can be used like cocoa beans.
• curaçaoA liqueur made from eau de vie, sugar, and dried peel of sweet and sour oranges, naturally colorless but typically artificially colored blue.
• cuspidorA spittoon.
• DacruzA surname from Portuguese.
• DeBritoA surname from Portuguese.
• DeMedeirosA surname from Portuguese.
• DemouraA surname from Portuguese.
• doleiroA money changer on the Brazilian black market.
• Dom JoãoA former island in Xiangzhou district, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China, that became part of Hengqin.
• DosreisA surname from Portuguese.
• East TimorA country in Southeast Asia occupying half the island of Timor. Official name: Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. Capital: Dili.
• empadãoA traditional Portuguese dish, made in an oven, consisting of a layer of meat or seafood between layers of starchy ingredients.
• engenhoA sugar mill in colonial Brazil.
• EntroncamentoA city and municipality in Santarém district, Portugal.
• epistemicideThe destruction of (a targeted people or group's) knowledge.
• escropuloA traditional Portuguese unit of mass, equivalent to about 1.2 g.
• EspargosA city on the island of Sal, Cape Verde.
• espetadaA Portuguese dish made usually from large chunks of beef rubbed in garlic and salt, skewered onto a bay leaf stick with vegetables and left to grill over smouldering wood chips.
• Espírito SantoA state of the Southeast Region, Brazil. Capital: Vitória.
• EstremozA city and municipality of Évora district, Alentejo region, Portugal.
• European PortugueseThe Portuguese language as spoken and written in Portugal, particularly when it differs from other regional varieties of that language.
• ÉvoraA district in southern Portugal.
• fadistaA fado singer.
• fangaA traditional Portuguese dry measure, equal to about 50–75 liters at different places and times.
• farinheiraPortuguese smoked sausage.
• farofaA toasted manioc flour used in Brazilian cookery, typically as an accompaniment to a main meal.