tupian

English - English

Definition of tupian in English English dictionary

Of the Tupi, pertaining to the Tupi or Tupi peoples

Agriculture, pottery, and stone working were practiced by them at the time of the conquest

The Tupi and the Guarani were originally the most powerful of the stock, which is hence also called Tupi-Guaranian

Designating, or pert

to, a linguistic stock of South American Indians comprising the most important Brazilian tribes

Related Terms

Tupian languages

Family of South American Indian languages with at least seven subgroups, spoken or formerly spoken in scattered areas from the Andes Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean and (with two exceptions) south of the Amazon River to southernmost Brazil and Paraguay. About one half of the 50 attested Tupian languages are extinct. The largest subgroup, Tupí-Guaraní, includes the extinct language Tupinambá, the source for borrowings of many New World flora and fauna terms into Portuguese and hence other European languages. Another language of the subgroup, Guaraní, is spoken as a first or second language by more than 90% of Paraguayans, who consider it a token of Paraguayan identity

Hyphenation

Tu·pi·an