Paraguaçu
/paɾaɡwaˈsu/noun
A proper name used chiefly for the Paraguaçu River in Bahia, Brazil, and for places named after it.
Did you know?Paraguaçu preserves Old Tupi vocabulary, in which river and water names often described the scale or character of the landscape itself.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-colonial period
Proto-Tupi-Guarani
*pará + *wasu
“Reconstructed roots meaning “river or large body of water” plus “large””
16th Century
Old Tupi
pará + gûasu
““River” or “sea” combined with “large””
16th–17th Century
Colonial Portuguese
Paraguaçu
“Indigenous river name adopted into Portuguese records”
18th–19th Century
Brazilian Portuguese
Paraguaçu
“Name of the major river flowing through Bahia”
Modern English
English
Paraguaçu
“A Brazilian geographical proper noun, especially the Paraguaçu River”