Santiago de Chile

3.2

The capital and largest city of Chile

proper noun
/sæntiˈɑːɡoʊ deɪ ˈtʃɪleɪ/

: Santiago de Chile

Ladies and gentlemen, we have begun our initial descent into Santiago de Chile.

Examples

Hundreds of thousands of people are taking to the streets of Santiago de Chile in support of President Salvador Allende.

Colonia (2015)
Santiago de Chile, 1973.

Colonia (2015)
During our vacation, we explored many historical sites in Santiago de Chile.
The vibrant culture and beautiful landscapes of Santiago de Chile attract tourists from around the world.
As the largest city in Chile, Santiago de Chile serves as the political and economic center of the country.

Synonyms

Santiago

vsSantiago de Chile

62 2.5

The capital and largest city of Chile near the Andes

uses the full formal name rather than the short form

Surface Forms

Santiago de Chile main

Morphology

Santiago + de + Chile

This is a compositional place name formed from the proper name 'Santiago' + the relational preposition 'de' + the country name 'Chile', so a learner who knows the constituents can read it as 'Santiago of Chile' (the Chilean capital). The structure is directly interpretable and follows common cross-linguistic naming patterns, making the meaning immediately recoverable from the parts.

Etymology

Santiago de Chile comes from early Spanish settlers who named the place for the saint 'Saint James'. The name uses Santiago which is Spanish for 'Saint James' and de Chile means 'of Chile', so it tells you this is the Santiago in Chile and why it is the country's capital.