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Port of Spain

Port of Spain

1 3.9
The capital city of Trinidad and Tobago on Trinidad's west coast
  • proper noun
translation icon : Puerto de España
  • During my visit to Port of Spain, I explored the vibrant markets and learned about local traditions.

Examples

  • However, they were a minority, and their normal hostility took a different, far less physical form, and counted for almost nothing in Port of Spain, where few Indians lived.

    Academic text (1990)
  • All three warned me to carefully pick a gated community in Port of Spain or have a live-in armed "gardener."

    Blog text (5)
  • The hurt was rather more specific, in the ever-present campaign of humiliation, demoralization, and threats of violence aimed at Indians that he would have encountered as a youth in the capital, Port of Spain, in the late 1940s.

    Academic text (1990)
  • In order to obtain the commercial endorsement on my Captain's license, I need to have a medical done by an MCA-approved doctor, and the only ones "in the area" are in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and Barbados.

    Blog text (5)
  • As the capital city, Port of Spain serves as the economic and cultural hub of Trinidad and Tobago.

  • The annual carnival in Port of Spain attracts thousands of visitors from around the world.

Synonyms

Port-of-Spain
vsPort of Spain
4.1

The capital and largest city of Trinidad and Tobago on the west coast of Trinidad

is the nonhyphenated modern spelling for the same city name

Surface Forms

Morphology

Port + of + Spain

This is a place-name whose referent (the capital of Trinidad and Tobago) cannot be derived from the literal parts 'port', 'of' and 'Spain'; a learner who knows those words would likely infer 'a port in Spain', which is incorrect. Proper nouns and toponyms are often historically arbitrary and require explicit world-knowledge or exposure, so the meaning is not predictable from the constituents for a B1 learner.

Etymology

Port of Spain comes from early Spanish people who called the harbour the Port of Spain, meaning the port for Spain. So the name became the city's name and now refers to the capital.