Brasilia

2 2.4

The capital city of Brazil built on a central plateau and opened in 1960

proper noun
/brəˈzɪliə/

: Brasilia

In late 1999, Coutinho completed a new film, Santo Forte, which won the top award at the Brasilia Film Festival.

Examples

Air Force One touched down in Brasilia in an early-morning mix of sunshine and raindrops.

Blog text (13)
The states as a group have thus lost much fiscal autonomy to Brasilia as a consequence of their earlier excesses.

Academic text (1998)
Brasilia spent that capital not on roads and bridges but on a welfare state.

Academic text (2012)
In fact, there has been more agreement on policy between Brasilia and Moscow in the last two years than there has been between Brasilia and Washington.

Academic text (1990)
Drought, high temperatures, and low humidity have caused wildfires at several places around Brasilia, according to officials.

Blog text (7)
The author wishes to thank the Fulbright Commission, the Institute for the Study of World Politics, and the University of Brasilia for their support in enabling him to carry out this research.

Academic text (1991)
In May 2005, the MST stepped up its campaign with a 17-day, 150-mile march on Brasilia.

Academic text (2005)
Brasilia's fear of economic overheating stems from the country's long history of financial instability.

Academic text (2012)
Nor were they successful at the critically important PMDB national convention held in Brasilia on March 8, 1998, where delegates defeated a motion to have an independent PMDB presidential candidacy in 1998 and decided instead to endorse Cardoso's reelection bid.

Academic text (1998)
After visiting Rio de Janeiro, I was excited to finally explore Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil.

Surface Forms

Brasilia main

Morphology

Brasilia = Brazil (transparent) = Brazil + ia

Formed by adding the place-name suffix '-ia' to 'Brazil', so learners who know 'Brazil' will recognize it as a place name associated with that country.

Etymology

Brasilia is the name of Brazil's capital and comes from the country name Brazil plus the place ending -ia, so it means the 'city of Brazil'. The name Brazil comes from the tree called 'brazilwood' that gave a red dye. That wood was named from Portuguese brasa 'ember' because of its red colour, so Brasilia also quietly recalls the red wood that gave the country its name.