SOUTH AMERICA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does South America mean? 

• SOUTH AMERICA (noun)
  The noun SOUTH AMERICA has 2 senses:

1. a continent in the western hemisphere connected to North America by the Isthmus of Panama

2. the nations of the South American continent collectively

  Familiarity information: SOUTH AMERICA used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOUTH AMERICA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A continent in the western hemisphere connected to North America by the Isthmus of Panama

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Instance hypernyms:

continent (one of the large landmasses of the earth)

Meronyms (parts of "South America"):

Brasil; Brazil; Federative Republic of Brazil (the largest Latin American country and the largest Portuguese speaking country in the world; located in the central and northeastern part of South America; world's leading coffee exporter)

Uruguay River (a South American river that arises in southern Brazil and flows south to the Rio de la Plata; the northern section forms the boundary between Argentina and Brazil and the southern section forms the boundary between Argentina and Uruguay)

Republic of Venezuela; Venezuela (a republic in northern South America on the Caribbean; achieved independence from Spain in 1811; rich in oil)

Guiana Highlands (a mountainous tableland in northern South America; extends from Venezuela into Guyana and northern Brazil)

Uruguay (a South American republic on the southeast coast of South America; achieved independence from Brazil in 1825)

Peru; Republic of Peru (a republic in western South America; achieved independence from Spain in 1821; was the heart of the Inca empire from the 12th to 16th centuries)

Paraguay; Republic of Paraguay (a landlocked republic in south central South America; achieved independence from Spain in 1811)

Guiana (a geographical region of northeastern South America including Guyana and Surinam)

Bolivia; Republic of Bolivia (a landlocked republic in central South America; Simon Bolivar founded Bolivia in 1825 after winning independence from Spain)

Ecuador; Republic of Ecuador (a republic in northwestern South America; became independent from Spain in 1822; the landscape is dominated by the Andes)

Colombia; Republic of Colombia (a republic in northwestern South America with a coastline on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea; achieved independence from Spain in 1821 under the leadership of Simon Bolivar; Spanish is the official language)

Chile; Republic of Chile (a republic in southern South America on the western slopes of the Andes on the south Pacific coast)

Argentina; Argentine Republic (a republic in southern South America; second largest country in South America)

South American country; South American nation (any one of the countries occupying the South American continent)

Meronyms (members of "South America"):

South American (a native or inhabitant of South America)

Domain member region:

Latin America (the parts of North America and South America to the south of the United States where Romance languages are spoken)

Holonyms ("South America" is a part of...):

southern hemisphere (the hemisphere to the south of the equator)

New World; occident; western hemisphere (the hemisphere that includes North America and South America)

Occident; West (the countries of (originally) Europe and (now including) North America and South America)

America (North America and South America and Central America)

Derivation:

South American (of or pertaining to or characteristic of the continent or countries of South America or their peoples)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The nations of the South American continent collectively

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Context example:

South America is an important market for goods from the United States

Hypernyms ("South America" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Meronyms (members of "South America"):

American (a native or inhabitant of a North American or Central American or South American country)

Derivation:

South American (of or pertaining to or characteristic of the continent or countries of South America or their peoples)

 Context examples 

He saw my change of feeling and continued, If you consent, neither you nor any other human being shall ever see us again; I will go to the vast wilds of South America.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

This eclipse will occur in North and South America on December 25, but for the rest of the world, it will happen on December 26.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Almost all the tumours found today in North, Central and South America descend from this single introduction event.

(The curious tale of the cancer ‘parasite’ that sailed the seas, University of Cambridge)

Don't! Don't talk of elephants in South America.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A country in Central South America, southwest of Brazil.

(Bolivia, Plurinational State of, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Six million years ago, grass-eating mammals became more diverse in South America.

(Six million years ago, atmospheric shifts led to increased diversity of grassland mammals, National Science Foundation)

One theory is that the monkeys weren't used to eating the continent's food: They were unwilling to trade South America's tropical fruits for northern acorns.

(First-ever fossil monkey found in North America, NSF)

The story of the cultivated peanut begins several thousand years ago in South America, where the genomes of two wild ancestors, A. duranensis and A. ipaensis, merged in a rare genetic event.

(Peanut Genome Sequenced with Unprecedent Accuracy, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Lebreton said the trash in the patch, discovered in the early 1990s, comes from countries around the Pacific Rim, including nations in Asia as well as North and South America.

(Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch Growing Rapidly, Study Finds, VOA)

A country in central South America, southwest of Brazil.

(Bolivia, Plurinational State of, NCI Thesaurus)