Meanings
proper noun
- most oftenA continental region consisting of those parts of the Americas located south of the United States where Spanish or Portuguese is predominantly spoken; sometimes including areas speaking French or French-based creoles.
Young Indians looking for work opportunities have made up a sizeable portion of undocumented migrants in the US, many after making the dangerous trek through Latin America to reach the US southern border.
2025 February 7, Esha Mitra, Aishwarya S Iyer and Ross Adkin, “‘Treated like criminals’: Shackling of Indians aboard 40-hour migrant flight sparks new outrage against Trump”, in CNN - broadlyby narrowingIbero-America (excluding all French-speaking areas).
- broadlyby broadeningumbrella term for South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean (including English and Dutch-speaking areas).
Origin
- FrenchAmérique latine
- EnglishLatin America
Calque of French Amérique latine. Thought to be coined by French Emperor Napoleon III.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Latyns-Amerika
- Latyns-Amerikaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Arabic أَمْرِيكَا اَللَّاتِينِيَّة
- أَمْرِيكَا اَللَّاتِينِيَّة (ʔamrīkā l-lātīniyya)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Bengali লাতিন আমেরিকা
- লাতিন আমেরিকা (latin amerika)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Bulgarian Лати́нска Аме́рика
- Лати́нска Аме́рика (Latínska Amérika)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Catalan Amèrica Llatina, Llatinoamèrica
- Amèrica Llatinaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
- Llatinoamèricaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Chinese Mandarin 拉丁美洲, 拉美
- 拉丁美洲 (Lādīng Měizhōu)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
- 拉美 (Lā-Měi)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Czech Latinská Amerika
- Latinská Amerikaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Danish Latinamerika
- Latinamerikaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Dutch Latijns-Amerika
- Latijns-Amerikaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Esperanto Latinameriko
- Latinamerikoparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Estonian Ladina-Ameerika
- Ladina-Ameerikaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Finnish Latinalainen Amerikka, Lattarit
- Latinalainen Amerikkaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
- Lattaritparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
French Amérique latine
- Amérique latineparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
German Lateinamerika
- Lateinamerikaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Greek Λατινική Αμερική
- Λατινική Αμερική (Latinikí Amerikí)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Hebrew אמריקה הלטינית
- אמריקה הלטינית (amérika latinít)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Hindi लातिन अमेरिका
- लातिन अमेरिका (lātin amerikā)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Hungarian Latin-Amerika
- Latin-Amerikaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Icelandic Rómanska Ameríka
- Rómanska Ameríkaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Irish Meiriceá Laidineach
- Meiriceá Laidineachparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Italian America latina
- America latinaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Japanese ラテンアメリカ
- ラテンアメリカ (Raten Amerika)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Korean 라틴 아메리카
- 라틴 아메리카 (Ratin Amerika)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Latvian Latīņamerika
- Latīņamerikaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Lithuanian Lotynų Amerika
- Lotynų Amerikaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Malay Amerika Latin
- Amerika Latinparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Norwegian Bokmål Latin-Amerika
- Latin-Amerikaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Persian آمریکای لاتین
- آمریکای لاتین (âmrikâ-ye lâtin)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Polish Ameryka Łacińska
- Ameryka Łacińskaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Portuguese América Latina
- América Latinaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Romanian America Latină
- America Latinăparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Russian Лати́нская Аме́рика
- Лати́нская Аме́рика (Latínskaja Amérika)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Slovak Latinská Amerika
- Latinská Amerikaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Spanish Latinoamérica, América Latina
- Latinoaméricaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
- América Latinaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Swahili Amerika ya Kilatini
- Amerika ya Kilatiniparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Swedish Latinamerika
- Latinamerikaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Tagalog Amerikang Latino
- Amerikang Latinoparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Thai ลาตินอเมริกา
- ลาตินอเมริกา (laa-dtin-à-mee-rí-gaa)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Turkish Latin Amerika
- Latin Amerikaparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Ukrainian Лати́нська Аме́рика
- Лати́нська Аме́рика (Latýnsʹka Améryka)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Urdu لاطینی امریکہ
- لاطینی امریکہ (lātīnī amrīkā)parts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Vietnamese Mỹ Latinh
- Mỹ Latinhparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Welsh America Ladin
- America Ladinparts of the Americas which speak Spanish or Portuguese
Cite this entry
APA
Latin America. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Latin%20America
MLA
“Latin America.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Latin%20America. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Latin America,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Latin%20America.
Source: Latin America on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.