Tupinambá
/tupiˈnɐ̃m.bɐ/noun
A member of an Indigenous Tupi-speaking people historically associated with Brazil’s Atlantic coast, or their language.
Did you know?The Tupinambá were among the Indigenous peoples whose language and customs were described by 16th-century European missionaries, making their name part of the earliest written records of coastal Brazil.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-colonial period
Old Tupi
Tupinambá
“An Indigenous ethnonym used by a Tupi-speaking people; the name’s internal literal analysis is uncertain.”
1500s
Portuguese
Tupinambá
“The Portuguese colonial spelling for the people encountered along parts of Brazil’s Atlantic coast.”
1550s–1590s
French and Portuguese sources
Toupinambour / Tupinambá
“Variant European spellings appearing in early travel narratives, missionary works, and colonial descriptions.”
17th–19th centuries
Portuguese
Tupinambá
“A historical name used in ethnographic and colonial writing for related or historically associated Tupi-speaking populations.”
Modern English
English
Tupinambá
“A proper noun referring chiefly to the Indigenous people and language of Brazil, with spelling retained from Portuguese.”