São Paulo

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name
  1. A municipality, the state capital of São Paulo State, Brazil.
  2. A state of the Southeast Region, Brazil. Capital: São Paulo.

Pronunciation

/ˌsaʊ ˈpaʊ.loʊ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-São Paulo.wav

Word forms

São Paulo Sao Paulo

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese São Paulo, named after Saint Paul. Doublet of Saint Paul. The city was originally named "São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga" meaning "Saint Paul of the fields of Piratininga". "Piratininga" comes from Old Tupi pirá (“fish”) and Old Tupi tininga (“to dry”) meaning "dried fish", after the fish that would be stranded on the shore of the Tietê River after a flood and left to dry out.

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