Where does “Brazil” come from?
Brazil derives from Portuguese Brasil, from Portuguese pau-brasil, pau meaning "wood," from Latin -ilis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰer-.
Ancestry of “Brazil”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Portuguese | Brazil | — |
| 2 | Portuguese | brasil | brazilwood; relating to embers, ember-coloured |
| 3 | Portuguese | -il | -ile |
| 4 | Latin | -ilis | -ile |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -elis | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -elis | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |
Words derived from “Brazil”