Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

são paulo

/ˌsaʊ ˈpaʊ.loʊ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.20 in modern English

Syllables
sao -paulo
IPA
/ˌsaʊ ˈpaʊ.loʊ/
9
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A municipality, the state capital of São Paulo State, Brazil.

name

A state of the Southeast Region, Brazil. Capital: São Paulo.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese São Paulo, named after Saint Paul. Doublet of Saint Paul. The city was originally named "São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga" meaning "Saint Paul of the fields of Piratininga". "Piratininga" comes from Old Tupi pirá (“fish”) and Old Tupi tininga (“to dry”) meaning "dried fish", after the fish that would be stranded on the shore of the Tietê River after a flood and left to dry out.

Word Breakdown

  • Root: pirá, tininga

Inflected Forms

Sao Paulo (alternative)

Phrases

Saint Paul São Paulo caecilian

Frequently Paired Words

Paulista Paulistano Saint Paul São Paulo caecilian

Questions

How do you pronounce são paulo?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˌsaʊ ˈpaʊ.loʊ/.
What does são paulo mean?
A municipality, the state capital of São Paulo State, Brazil.
Where does são paulo come from?
Borrowed from Portuguese São Paulo, named after Saint Paul. Doublet of Saint Paul. The city was originally named "São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga" meaning "Saint Paul of the fields of Piratininga". "Piratininga" comes from Old Tupi pirá (“fish”) and Old Tupi tininga (“to dry”) meaning "dried fish", after the fish that would be stranded on the shore of the Tietê River after a flood and left to dry out.

How to pronounce são paulo

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “são paulo”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌsaʊ ˈpaʊ.loʊ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “são paulo”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “são paulo” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.