Meanings
- A port city on the Iberian Peninsula, at the mouth of the Tagus River on the Atlantic Ocean; the capital city of Portugal.
We see documentary footage (the trudging homeless) and an animated map—an inky line movies from Paris to Marseilles, from there to Oran, and finally to Casablanca, where the lucky ones escape via Lisbon and the rest “wait…and wait…and wait.”
2012 March 19, David Denby, “Everybody Comes to Rick’s: “Casablanca” on the Big Screen”, in The New Yorker, archived from the original on 30 Dec 2024 - metonymicallyThe Portuguese government.
- A number of places in the United States:
- A town in New London County, Connecticut.
- A village and township in Kendall County, Illinois.
- An unincorporated community in Allen Township, Noble County, Indiana.
- A city in Linn County, Iowa.
- A village in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana.
- A town and census-designated place therein, in Androscoggin County, Maine.
- A town and census-designated place therein, in Grafton County, New Hampshire.
- A town in St. Lawrence County, New York, named after Lisburn, Northern Ireland.
- A township in Sampson County, North Carolina.
- A city, the county seat of Ransom County, North Dakota.
- A village, the county seat of Columbiana County, Ohio.
- An unincorporated community in Harmony Township, Clark County, Ohio.
- A township in Davison County, South Dakota.
- A town in Juneau County, Wisconsin.
- A village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin.
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounA district of Portugal around the capital.
village in Ohio
Origin
- LatinOlisīpō
- Vulgar LatinOlisipona
- Arabicلِشْبُونَة (lišbūna)
- FrenchLisbonne
- EnglishLisbon
As the capital of Portugal, from French Lisbonne, from Arabic لِشْبُونَة (lišbūna), from Latin Olisīpō, the origin of which is uncertain. Older spellings include Ulixbona and Ulixbuna (in the Visigothic era); Ὀλισσιπών (Olissipṓn) or Ὀλισσιπόνα (Olissipóna) (by Greek writers), Olisippo (by Pliny the Elder), and Ulyssippo (by Pomponius Mela of Hispania), the last of which relates to the first-century Roman folk etymology that it was founded by and named after Ulysses; another common folk etymology is the Phoenician 𐤏𐤋𐤉𐤑 𐤏𐤁𐤀 (ʿlyṣ ʿbʾ /ʿaliṣ-ʿuboʾ/, “safe harbour”), but there is not much evidence for such words. Another possibility, based on hydronymy of the area, derives the name from Paleo-Hispanic's appellation for the Tagus, Lisso or Lucio. In other senses, with reference to the Portuguese city.
More words from French, Arabic, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Lissabon
- Lissaboncapital city of Portugal
Ancient Greek Ὀλισσιπών
- Ὀλισσιπών (Olissipṓn)capital city of Portugal
Arabic لِشْبُونَة, أُشْبُونَة
- لِشْبُونَة (lišbūna)capital city of Portugal
- أُشْبُونَة (ʔušbūna)capital city of Portugal
Basque Lisboa
- Lisboacapital city of Portugal
Bengali লিসবন
- লিসবন (lisbon)capital city of Portugal
Bulgarian Лисабо́н
- Лисабо́н (Lisabón)capital city of Portugal
Catalan Lisboa
- Lisboacapital city of Portugal
Chinese Cantonese 里斯本, 葡京
- 里斯本 (lei⁵ si¹ bun²)capital city of Portugal
- 葡京 (pou⁴ ging¹)capital city of Portugal
Chinese Mandarin 里斯本, 葡京
- 里斯本 (Lǐsīběn)capital city of Portugal
- 葡京 (Pújīng)capital city of Portugal
Czech Lisabon
- Lisaboncapital city of Portugal
Danish Lissabon
- Lissaboncapital city of Portugal
Dutch Lissabon
- Lissaboncapital city of Portugal
Esperanto Lisbono
- Lisbonocapital city of Portugal
Finnish Lissabon
- Lissaboncapital city of Portugal
French Lisbonne
- Lisbonnecapital city of Portugal
German Lissabon
- Lissaboncapital city of Portugal
Greek Λισσαβώνα
- Λισσαβώνα (Lissavóna)capital city of Portugal
Hawaiian Likepona
- Likeponacapital city of Portugal
Hebrew לִיסְבּוֹן
- לִיסְבּוֹן (lísbon)capital city of Portugal
Hindi लिस्बन
- लिस्बन (lisban)capital city of Portugal
Hungarian Lisszabon
- Lisszaboncapital city of Portugal
Icelandic Lissabon
- Lissaboncapital city of Portugal
Irish Liospóin
- Liospóincapital city of Portugal
Italian Lisbona
- Lisbonacapital city of Portugal
Japanese リスボン
- リスボン (Risubon)capital city of Portugal
Korean 리스본
- 리스본 (Riseubon)capital city of Portugal
Latin Olisīpō
- Olisīpōcapital city of Portugal
Latvian Lisabona
- Lisabonacapital city of Portugal
Lithuanian Lisabona
- Lisabonacapital city of Portugal
Norwegian Bokmål Lisboa, Lissabon
- Lisboacapital city of Portugal
- Lissaboncapital city of Portugal
Persian لیسبون
- لیسبونcapital city of Portugal
Polish Lizbona
- Lizbonacapital city of Portugal
Portuguese Lisboa
- Lisboacapital city of Portugal
Romanian Lisabona
- Lisabonacapital city of Portugal
Russian Лиссабо́н
- Лиссабо́н (Lissabón)capital city of Portugal
Slovak Lisabon
- Lisaboncapital city of Portugal
Spanish Lisboa
- Lisboacapital city of Portugal
Swedish Lissabon
- Lissaboncapital city of Portugal
Tamil லிஸ்பன்
- லிஸ்பன் (lispaṉ)capital city of Portugal
Thai ลิสบอน
- ลิสบอน (lís-bɔ̂n)capital city of Portugal
Turkish Lizbon
- Lizboncapital city of Portugal
Ukrainian Лісабо́н
- Лісабо́н (Lisabón)capital city of Portugal
Urdu لسبن
- لسبن (lisban)capital city of Portugal
Vietnamese Li-xboa
- Li-xboacapital city of Portugal
Yiddish ליסבאָן, ליסאַבאָן
- ליסבאָן (lisbon)capital city of Portugal
- ליסאַבאָן (lisabon)capital city of Portugal
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with Lisbon
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
Lisbon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lisbon
“Lisbon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lisbon. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Lisbon,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lisbon.
Source: Lisbon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.