Glossary

Term in Portuguese	Literal Translation	Definition
A Cidade do Rio	The City of Rio	A newspaper in the late nineteenth century that was a leading voice for abolition, run by José do Patrocínio, an orator and journalist of mixed race.
A Nôva Política	The New Politics	An official, state-authorized magazine during Getulio Vargas’ Estado Novo (see below), which published pieces that supported the political regime.
aldeias	villages	Jesuit-run native villages, where indigenous peoples worked the priests’ fields and received instruction in Catholic doctrine.
amarelo	yellow	A racial category introduced by the Brazilian government in the census in the 20th century to add specificity to the categories defining the racial makeup of the country. It was generally associated with Brazilians of East-Asian descent but was not a very widely diffused identity, with few people self-identifying as amarelo.
bandeirantes	backwoodsmen, explorers	The main explorers of the Brazilian frontier and later the subject of myths and folklore as well as a symbol of national identity. This traditional image of the bandeirante is that of a swashbuckling male with superhuman courage who combats the forces of nature and dangers threatening the natives, although throughout history, a wide range of people joined in the bandeiras (expeditions), including plantation owners, traders, mulattos, and the military. Many bandeirantes were involved in capturing and enslaving indigenous people.
bandeiras	flags	The name for the expeditions undertaken by the bandeirantes into the interior of the continent.
bóias-frias	cold lunch	A name for farm workers who do not have land of their own to work on. They travel with lunch made from home and have no means by which to warm their meal, thus earning the nickname: Bóias-frias: Those that take a [cold] lunch.
branquear	to whiten	The idea of whitening the Brazilian population followed the abolition of slavery and the controversy over miscegenation, or the mixing of different racial groups. One group, believing in the supremacy of the white race even in terms of reproduction, held that by mixing races the whiteness of a person would triumph over other races, and so the entire country would whiten.
cabras	goats	Pro-Brazilian faction, who in 1831 held a riot in Rio supporting independence from Portugal during which they attacked the houses of supporters of the Portuguese crown.
caipira	country folk	A term used to identify people living in rural areas in the interior regions of Brazil, which implies an identity somewhere between the English words redneck and backwoodsman. The caipira identity is marked by a rugged nature and strong work ethic coupled with a degree of backwardness, lack of education, naivety, and use of “informal” Portuguese. During the Festa Junina, a winter holiday, many people, mostly non-caipiras, celebrate the caipira lifestyle by dressing up in stereotypical caipira clothing and blacking out teeth.
candomblé	Candomblé, literally ‘House of Dance’ in a West African dialect	A religion that developed among slaves in the Northeast of Brazil during the period of African slave trade and that is still practiced today, mostly within Brazil – especially in the cities Salvador and Chaoeira in Bahia – but also in some other parts of Brazil and in other countries. At the heart of Candomblé is a veneration of nature; it is a polytheistic religion with a host of spiritual entities.
capoeira	capoeira	A genre of physical movement that incorporates martial art, dance, musical performance, and folkloric ritual, developed in the slave communities of colonial Brazil. Informed by changing political and social conditions in Brazil, capoeira has undergone numerous transformations, from being associated with crime and street violence in the late nineteenth century to being recognized as a cultural icon for the whole country today.
cerrado	closed-off area	The region of tropical savanna in the interior of the country, mainly in the states of Goias and Minas Gerais, that accounts for 21 percent of the land area and is used primarily for farmland.
consciência negra	Black Awareness	The name for the holiday celebrated on the date of the death of Zumbi, one of the last leaders of the runaway slave colony Palmares. It has been celebrated in Brazil on November 20 since the 1960s.
(Guerra do) Contestado	(War of the) Challenged	An armed conflict in the 1910s between an indigenous community in Paraná and state and federal forces over an area of land whose ownership was in dispute between the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina, demonstrating the lack of regulation of the states at the time. The region was afterwards known as the Contestado because of its disputed status.
Cortes	council	The Portuguese Royal Council, responsible for drafting the first constitution in 1820. The court also called for the return to Portugal of Dom João VI in 1821, leaving his son Pedro to rule Brazil and exacerbating the political conflicts within the country that led to its independence in 1822.
cortiços	tenements	As opposed to favelas, cortiços are substandard living conditions, created from existing buildings that are subdivided to accommodate many families that live in small rooms with little privacy.
custo Brasil	cost/expense of Brazil	Increased operational costs associated with doing business in Brazil.
Dia do Fico	Day of “I will stay”	January 9, 1822, the day of Pedro II’s declaration that he would stay in Brazil, resisting demands from the Portuguese Cortes that he return to Portugal.
El macacón	The Big Ape (Spanish)	Pedro II was dubbed this by Paraguayan propaganda during the Paraguayan War (1864-70) to describe him as primitive.
engenhos	mills	Rural sites for processing sugar.
Escola Superior de Guerra	Higher War College	A military academy founded in 1948, which teaches national military doctrine and education focused on national defense.
Estado Novo	The New State	The period from 1937 to 1945 under the presidency of Getúlio Vargas in which, after declaring the existence of a communist plot to take over the country, he closed Congress and took control of the legislative and judiciary branches of the government.
exaltados	exalted hot-headed	A group opposed to Pedro II and the moderate liberals that wanted greater provincial autonomy. Some favored establishing a republic.
expedições	expeditions	Expeditions undertaken by early pioneers into the backlands, also known as “bandeiras.”
falta de braços	lack of arms	Labor shortage.
favelas	shantytowns	Communities of shantytowns around many Brazilian cities, especially the largest ones such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Though some favelas started as informal neighborhoods for people without access to land or credit, they have become a more or less permanent part of the landscape of many cities, with millions of people currently inhabiting them. They are often located in the hills or on unoccupied land with little commercial value.
fazendeiro	farmer	Generally used to refer to owners of “fazendas,” or large farming estates.
feitorias	factories	A part of the Portuguese system of overseas trade. These fortified trading posts were simultaneously markets, warehouses, customs houses, and places that offered support for navigation.
futebol	soccer	The most popular sport in Brazil and a source of national pride from the middle of the 20th century. The Brazilian national team has won the World Cup a record five times.
Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro	Rio de Janeiro Gazette	A newspaper published in Rio de Janeiro, during the early nineteenth century.
Grito do Ipiranga	Cry of Ipiranga	Declaration of Independence by Pedro I on September 7, 1822 along the banks of the Ipiranga River in São Paulo.
Guarda Nacional	National Guard	A paramilitary group founded in 1831, intended to replace the many regional militias that existed at the time, thereby unifying and strengthening the nation. As the power of the national armed forces grew through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Guarda’s power diminished until it was demobilized in 1922.
Iemanja	From the Yoruba “Yeye emo eja” that means “Mother whose children are like fish”	Deity of the sea in the candomblé religion and patroness of the sea, sailors, and fishermen.
Índio	Indian	At the time of European discovery, the natives were mainly nomadic or semi-nomadic, existing on fishing, hunting, gathering and some agriculture. Thousands of tribes that existed at the introduction of European settlements died off, were directly exterminated, or became a part of the miscegenation that produced a mixed-race Brazilian identity.
Instituto da Pesquisas e Estudos Sociais	Institute of Research and Social Studies	In the 1950s and 60s, businesspeople directed funds to this conservative institute in opposition to the vestiges of Getúlio Vargas’s populist government and the spread of communism.
Juiz de Fora	Literally, “outside judge”	A city in southern Minas Gerais that served as a link between the gold mines in the interior of the state and the port of Rio de Janeiro.
Justiça do Trabalho	Department of Labor	Agency that regulates employment and labor issues for all Brazilian citizens.
lLatifundias	estates	Large estates or fazendas with hierarchical structures of masters and slaves; sources of agricultural production in colonial Brazil.
Liga de Defesa Nacional	National Defense League	A militia founded by President Rui Barbosa to offer support for Brazil’s participation in World War I.
Malés	Muslim (from Yoruba)	African Muslim slaves and freed people of color that rose up in Salvador de Bahía in 1835, demonstrating the weakness of the central government and the potential for rebellion among the slave population.
mamelucos	mamelukes	Mixed-race children of Europeans and natives of Brazil, who were essential players in interactions between these groups due to their understanding of both societies and languages.
Memórias do Cárcere	Prison Memoirs	Book by Brazilian left-wing author Graciliano Ramos based on an account of his time as a political prisoner during the Estado Novo.
município	municipality	Administrative unit that might include a city or town and the surrounding areas, somewhat like a county.
navegar é preciso!	We must sail!	Phrase used to describe the seafaring drive of early Portuguese explorers and used as the title of a poem by Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa.
Navio negreiro	Slave Ship	Title of a poem written in 1869 by Brazilian author Castro Alves describing the situation of captured African natives who were transported across the Atlantic Ocean as slaves.
O Estado de São Paulo	The State of São Paulo	Leading newspaper of São Paulo, founded in 1875, which was oriented toward political conservatism and economic liberalism.
O Globo	The Globe	A conservative daily newspaper and media conglomerate that gained success due to government favoritism under the military dictatorship, when it followed a strictly pro-government line of news coverage.
panelinha	Literally, a little pan	A small group of people who share the same ideas.
patrão	boss	Manager, person in charge
pardo	brown	A racial category that includes people from a broad range of mixed racial ancestries. It first appeared in censuses in the 19th century, when race was determined by census takers, for whom “pardo” served as a miscellany category when the subject could not be classified as e ‘black,’ ‘white,’ or ‘yellow.’ Beginning in the 1950s, the census became based on self-classification, and pardo appeared as a category. There has been a rise in the number of individuals self-identifying as pardo. In 2000, 38.5 percent of the population identified as such.
patria	fatherland	Regional homeland, Brazilians identified more with their region than with the whole of Brazil (e.g., patria paulista, patria bahiana).
pés de chumbo	Lead Feet	The pro-Portuguese faction in the 1830s who opposed Brazilian independence. Many of them were merchants with a financial stake in preserving a relationship with Portugal.
positivismo	positivism	A school of thought developed by French sociologist Auguste Comte in nineteenth-century France. Positivism focuses on scientific method to draw universal conclusions that can be applied to society. Although the movement failed to gain traction in Europe, it was influential among early republican ideologues.
praça	town square	Public space in the center of Brazilian cities and towns.
preto/negro	black	A racial classification signifying black. The term “preto” has derogatory connotations and “negro” is the generally acceptable way to refer to black individuals. The question of racial identity in Brazil is infinitely complex, and people of a broad range of racial backgrounds self identify and are identified as negro.
Programa de Metas	Program of Goals	The plan for industrial development and modernization instituted by President Juscelino Kubitschek, focused around import substitution and making Brazil a self-sufficient industrial power.
Queremistas	Those who want (colloquial, invented word)	The supporters of Getúlio Vargas who advocated that he continue as president in 1945. Their slogan was “Queremos Getúlio” or “We want Getúlio.”
quilombos	quilombos	Also known as mocambos, these communities of escaped African slaves – which varied in population from several dozen to over 20,000 – were common up through the nineteenth century in Brazil. Today, many towns composed of people of quilombo origins have been awarded a special legal status.
real	Literally royal	The Brazilian currency, reintroduced in 1994 during the presidency of Itamar Franco.
Resgate	ransom	A term to describe capturing indigenous people and enslaving them to “protect” them from being allegedly killed or cannibalized by other indigenous people.
sertão	backlands	The term was first used by the Portuguese to refer to the expanse of Brazilian land away from the Atlantic coast where they first settled. Later on it came to refer to the semi-arid geographical region in Northeast Brazil covering parts of Alagoas, Bahia, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará and Piauí, where drought and famine commonly have affected subsistence farmers throughout history.
Sociedade Promotora da Imigraçao	The Society for the Promotion of Immigration	An organization formed in the 1890s in the aftermath of the abolition of slavery. Its goal was to encourage European immigration as a source of cheap labor.
Superintendência para o Desenvolvimento do Nordeste (SUDENE)	The Superintendancy for the Development of the Northeast	A government agency founded in the 1950s to address the long-standing socio-economic inequality between the Northeast and the more developed southern regions of the country.
tenentes	lieutenants	Junior army officers were instrumental in uprisings in the 1920s, known as the Tenentes Revolts, that initially protested harsh forms of punishment within the military, but grew to encompass broader social issues such as agrarian reform, democratization of the voting system, and the nationalization of some industries.
tenentismo	political movement among army lieutenants	The name of the movement espoused by army lieutenants in the 1920s that was a precursor to the Revolution of 1930, which altered the political structure of the country and called into question the role of the old conservative elite.
uti possidetis	ownership by possession	The Latin term in international law for the principle that, after an armed conflict, if land is not designated by treaty as belonging to a certain side, it remains with the power that possessed it before the conflict. The principle was used in determining the boundaries of post-colonial South American countries.
Veja	Literally, look or see	Veja is a widely read Brazilian national weekly magazine published by the Abril publishing house. It includes articles about current domestic and international events, colorful graphic and photographic elements, interviews, and reports. Time magazine in the United States would be a close cultural equivalent.
zona da mata	wooded zone	A humid coastal region in the northeast of Brazil whose climate is excellent for sugar production. It was the center of sugar plantations in colonial Brazil.
zona de agreste	wilderness zone	A semi-arid region between the coastal zona da mata and the sertão in Northeastern Brazil. Agriculture predominates, and, as in the backlands, drought and famine are common.