Rio de Janeiro
10
2.8
- proper noun
- /ˈriːoʊ dɪ dʒəˈnɛroʊ/
:
Río de Janeiro
- The annual carnival in Rio de Janeiro attracts millions of tourists from around the world.
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Summit in Rio de Janeiro
- Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro
Examples
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Reachable now in less than 14 hours via British Airways'... nonstop flights to stunning Rio de Janeiro.
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Two parallel conferences on environment and development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this past June produced a vast array of documents.
Academic text (1992) -
You want to go to Rio de Janeiro?
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I had just moved from Rio de Janeiro to New York and went to the studio.
Blog text (28) -
Could you give me information about flights to Rio de Janeiro?
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Flight BA 1 28 to Rio de Janeiro now boarding, gate number seven.
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Because of political sensitivity, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, which met in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, downplayed the population issue.
Academic text (1994) -
At the turn of the century, Rio de Janeiro was Brazil's largest, fastest-growing, and most industrialized center.
Academic text (1992) -
I'm Brazilian, born in Rio de Janeiro, part-time freelancer, color freak, and online listener.
Blog text (20) -
For information on APC, contact the APC Secretariat, Alternex-IBASE, Rua Vicente de Souza 29, 22251 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Academic text (1992)
Synonyms
117
1.3
A short name for Rio de Janeiro, a big city in Brazil that has famous beaches and a Carnival
Surface Forms
Morphology
Rio + de + Janeiro
This is a Portuguese toponym whose literal parts (rio = 'river', de = 'of', Janeiro = 'January') do not indicate the referent 'a large city and port' — a learner who knew the constituents would more likely infer 'river of January' or a date-related name rather than a city. Place‑names are language-specific and their referential meanings are arbitrary or conventional, so the city identity cannot be derived from the parts.
Etymology
Rio de Janeiro gets its name from early Portuguese explorers. They arrived in January and saw a large bay that looked like a Rio ('river'), so they called the place Rio de Janeiro. Janeiro refers to the month 'January', and that name later came to mean the city and port we know today.