Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • A landlocked country of south-central South America. Inhabited principally by the Guaraní, the region was first explored by Europeans in 1516 and grew around the colony of Asunción (founded in the 1530s). Paraguay achieved de facto independence from Spain in 1811 and was ruled by a series of dictators in the 1800s. Paraguay was involved in costly wars with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay (1865–1870) and Bolivia (1932–1935). Asunción is the capital and the largest city.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A country in South America; the Republic of Paraguay.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a landlocked republic in south central South America; achieved independence from Spain in 1811

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Disputed; from Guaraní Payagua ("Payagua tribe") i ("water") or para ("river") guai ("crown") or para ("river") gua ("from") i ("water").

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