Puerto Rico
5
1.6
- proper noun
- /ˈpwɛrtoʊ ˈriːkoʊ/
:
Puerto Rico
- I'm from Puerto Rico.
Examples
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Have fun in Puerto Rico, man.
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So tell me again about life in Puerto Rico.
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Have fun in Puerto Rico, man.
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Maybe 'cause he still lives in Puerto Rico.
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Wheels up for Puerto Rico at 7:00.
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We got six weeks in Bermuda, three weeks in Puerto Rico, tropical theme.
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How's Puerto Rico?
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My parents returned to Puerto Rico in '70.
Synonyms
20
3.0
An island in the Caribbean that is part of the United States
An old name for Puerto Rico, the island in the Caribbean
A self-governing area linked to the United States on the island of Puerto Rico
Surface Forms
Morphology
Puerto + Rico
The components are Spanish words (puerto = port, rico = rich), so a learner who knows those constituents can infer this is a place name meaning roughly 'rich port' and thus recognize it as a toponym. However, that etymological transparency does not let a learner derive the full propositional content (that it is an island in the Caribbean and a U.S. territory), so the phrase is only partially predictable from its parts.
Etymology
Puerto Rico comes from the Spanish words Puerto and Rico, which together mean the phrase 'rich port'. Early Spanish sailors used that name for the island's busy port, and the phrase stuck, so today Puerto Rico is the Caribbean island that is a territory of the United States.