Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

formosa

/fɔɹˈmoʊ.sə/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.76 in modern English

Syllables
for-mosa
IPA
/fɔɹˈmoʊ.sə/
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

Synonym of Taiwan: an island of East Asia.

Dated

name

A city in Goiás, Brazil.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Portuguese Formosa, as in Ilha Formosa (literally “Beautiful Island”) and Vila Formosa da Imperatriz (literally “Beautiful Town of the Empress”), from formosa (“beautiful, shapely”), from Latin fōrmōsus (“beautiful, well-formed”), from fōrma (“shape”) + -ōsus (“-ful”), literally “shapeful”. The Brazilian city was named in honor of Empress Teresa Cristina, in the 1840s.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: Formosa, fōrmōsus, fermosa, formosus

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /fɔɹˈmoʊ.sə/
  • British English: /fɔːˈməʊ.sə/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Synonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce formosa?
The recorded pronunciation is /fɔɹˈmoʊ.sə/.
What does formosa mean?
Synonym of Taiwan: an island of East Asia.
Where does formosa come from?
It is traced to Portuguese.

How to pronounce formosa

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