Venezuelan

How to spell venezuelan

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce venezuelan

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does venezuelan mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to Venezuela, its people, or its culture.
2. nounA person from Venezuela or a citizen of Venezuela.

Venezuelan in a sentence

• adjective

  The restaurant serves authentic venezuelan arepas and stews.

• noun

  Every venezuelan in the office cheered when the national team scored.

• adjective

  Oil dominates the venezuelan economy more than any other export.

• noun

  As a proud venezuelan, he kept the flag above his desk.

Where does venezuelan come from?

Language of origin: Spanish

This word is built on the country name Venezuela, which itself comes from Spanish and dates to the early 1500s. When European navigators reached the indigenous stilt villages built over the water of Lake Maracaibo, the sight reminded them of the canal city of Venice, so they named the region with a diminutive form meaning 'little Venice' (the Italian Veneziola lies behind it). The English demonym was formed much later by adding the familiar Latin-derived suffix -an, which marks belonging or origin and appears in many other nationality words such as American and Mexican. The tricky part for spellers is the unstressed middle vowels and the unusual -zuel- cluster, where the silent-feeling 'u' after the 'z' is easy to drop or misplace. Keeping the source name Venezuela firmly in mind is the surest guide to the spelling.

How the word is built

• Venezuel- (from the country name Venezuela)
• -an (adjectival/noun suffix meaning 'belonging to')