Meanings
plural bandeirantes
- historicaladventurers and slavers from São Paulo, who were responsible for exploring much of early colonial Brazil.
Its tough and cruel settler bandeirantes were the first Europeans to penetrate Brazil's interior on their long slaving forays against the índios.
2003, Peter Robb, A Death in Brazil, Bloomsbury, published 2005, page 141 more example
On Friday afternoon, Santos and a few dozen other activists will set off from the Praça Panamericana in western São Paulo on a 1,000km (621-mile) walk to Brasília, the Brazilian capital, following one of the routes of the bandeirantes.
2015 April 24, Bruce Douglas, “Brazil activists to walk 600 miles for 'free markets, lower taxes and privatisation'”, in The Guardian - person who was born in the State of São Paulo, which is known as Bandeirante State
Origin
- Portuguesebandeirante
- Englishbandeirante
From Portuguese bandeirante, from bandeira (“flag”).
More words from Portuguese
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
bandeirante. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bandeirante
“bandeirante.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bandeirante. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bandeirante,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bandeirante.
Source: bandeirante on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.