A World of Words: South America - Introductory

Practice this vocabulary list and take a journey to South America. Review the names of South American countries and learn about South America's diverse ecosystems, native plants and animals, and more.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. agriculture
    the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock
  2. alpaca
    domesticated mammal with long silky fleece
  3. altitude
    elevation above sea level or above the earth's surface
  4. Amazon River
    a major South American river
  5. Amerindian
    a dated term applied to an Indigenous person living in the Americas
  6. anaconda
    a large boa of tropical South America
  7. anchovy
    small herring-like fish often canned whole or as paste
  8. Andean condor
    large vulture of the high Andes having black plumage and white neck ruff
  9. Andes
    a mountain range in South America running 5000 miles along the Pacific coast
  10. Angel Falls
    the highest waterfall
  11. Argentina
    a republic in southern South America
  12. basin
    the geographical area drained by a river and its tributaries
  13. biodiversity
    the variety of plant and animal life in a habitat
  14. Bolivia
    a landlocked republic in central South America
  15. 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
  16. brazil nut
    three-sided tropical American nut with white oily meat and hard brown shell
  17. cacao
    a tropical tree producing beans used to make chocolate
  18. cape
    a sleeveless garment worn over the shoulders
  19. Cape Horn
    a rocky headland belonging to Chile at the southernmost tip of South America (south of Tierra del Fuego)
  20. capybara
    pig-sized tailless South American amphibious rodent with partly webbed feet; largest living rodent
  21. cash crop
    a cultivated plant that is grown to be sold for profit
  22. cavy
    short-tailed rough-haired South American rodent
  23. Chile
    a republic in southern South America on the western slopes of the Andes on the south Pacific coast
  24. coastal
    of or relating to the shoreline
  25. coffee
    a beverage consisting of an infusion of ground coffee beans
  26. 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
  27. conquistador
    a 16th-century Spanish conqueror of Peru and Mexico
  28. conservation
    careful management of the environment and natural resources
  29. continent
    one of the large landmasses of the earth
  30. copper
    a ductile malleable reddish-brown corrosion-resistant diamagnetic metallic element; occurs in various minerals but is the only metal that occurs abundantly in large masses; used as an electrical and thermal conductor
  31. deforestation
    the state of being clear of trees
  32. desert
    arid land with little or no vegetation
  33. dialect
    the usage or vocabulary characteristic of a group of people
  34. dry season
    one of the two seasons in tropical climates
  35. earthquake
    vibration from underground movement along a fault plane
  36. ecosystem
    organisms interacting with their physical environment
  37. ecotourism
    tourism to exotic or threatened ecosystems to observe wildlife or to help preserve nature
  38. Ecuador
    a republic in northwestern South America
  39. elevation
    distance of something above a reference point
  40. El Nino
    a warm ocean current in the Pacific that sets off a chain of weather events
  41. equatorial
    of or existing at or near the geographic equator
  42. escarpment
    a long steep slope at the edge of a plateau or ridge
  43. estuary
    the wide part of a river where it nears the sea
  44. export
    sell or transfer abroad
  45. extinction
    the state of being no longer in existence
  46. extraction
    taking out something
  47. fertilizer
    any substance used to improve the quality of soil
  48. foothill
    a relatively low hill on the lower slope of a mountain
  49. fossil fuel
    energy-producing substance derived from preserved organisms
  50. freshwater
    water that is not salty
  51. Galapagos
    a group of islands in the Pacific off South America
  52. gaucho
    a cowboy of the South American pampas
  53. giant tortoise
    very large tortoises of the Galapagos and Seychelles islands
  54. grassland
    land where grass or grasslike vegetation grows and is the dominant form of plant life
  55. guava
    tropical fruit having green or yellow skin and pink pulp
  56. hydroelectric
    of or relating to or used in the production of electricity by waterpower
  57. immigrant
    a person who comes to a country in order to settle there
  58. Inca
    the small group of Quechua living in the Cuzco Valley in Peru who established hegemony over their neighbors in order to create an empire that lasted from about 1100 until the Spanish conquest in the early 1530s
  59. indigenous
    originating where it is found
  60. infrastructure
    basic facilities needed for the functioning of a country
  61. iron ore
    an ore from which iron can be extracted
  62. irrigation
    the act of supplying dry land with water by artificial means
  63. isthmus
    a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas
  64. landlocked
    surrounded entirely or almost entirely by land
  65. livestock
    any animals kept for use or profit
  66. llama
    a cud-chewing, South American animal related to the camel
  67. llano
    an extensive grassy and nearly treeless plain
  68. lumber
    the wood of trees prepared for use as building material
  69. Machu Picchu
    Inca fortress city in the Andes in Peru discovered in 1911
  70. maize
    corn
  71. megalopolis
    a very large urban complex
  72. mestizo
    a Latin American with both European and indigenous heritage
  73. mining
    the act of extracting ores or coal from the earth
  74. mineral
    a solid inorganic substance occurring in nature
  75. mountainous
    containing many mountains
  76. natural gas
    a fossil fuel in the gaseous state
  77. natural resource
    material in the environment that can be used by people
  78. nitrate
    any compound containing the nitrate group
  79. papaya
    large oval melon-like tropical fruit with yellowish flesh
  80. Paraguay
    a landlocked republic in south central South America
  81. pasture
    a field covered with grass and suitable for grazing
  82. Peru
    a republic in western South America
  83. pineapple
    large sweet fleshy tropical fruit with a terminal tuft of stiff leaves; widely cultivated
  84. piranha
    small carnivorous fish of South America
  85. plateau
    a relatively flat raised area of land
  86. precious metal
    any of the less common and valuable metals often used to make coins or jewelry
  87. precipitation
    the falling to earth of any form of water
  88. quipu
    Incan device made of knotted cords for calculating
  89. rainforest
    a densely wooded tropical area with heavy precipitation
  90. rain shadow
    an area that has little precipitation because some barrier causes the winds to lose their moisture before reaching it
  91. ranching
    farming for the raising of livestock (particularly cattle)
  92. referendum
    a legislative act referred for approval to a popular vote
  93. salt flat
    a flat expanse of salt left by the evaporation of a body of salt water
  94. samba
    a lively ballroom dance from Brazil
  95. selva
    a rain forest in a tropical area
  96. sodium nitrate
    (NaNO3) used especially as a fertilizer and explosive
  97. Spanish
    the Romance language spoken in most of Spain and the countries colonized by Spain
  98. strait
    a narrow channel joining two larger bodies of water
  99. Strait of Magellan
    the strait separating South America from Tierra del Fuego and other islands to the south of the continent; discovered by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520; an important route around South America before the Panama Canal was built
  100. subsistence farming
    farming that provides for the basic needs of the farmer without surpluses for marketing
  101. temperate
    mild or free from extremes
  102. terrace
    a level shelf of land interrupting a declivity
  103. terrain
    a piece of ground having specific characteristics
  104. tributary
    a branch that flows into the main stream
  105. tropical
    relating to part of the Earth's surface with hot climate
  106. urbanization
    the social process whereby cities grow
  107. Uruguay
    a South American republic on the southeast coast of South America; achieved independence from Brazil in 1825
  108. Venezuela
    a republic in northern South America on the Caribbean
  109. viceroy
    governor who rules as the representative of a sovereign
  110. volcano
    a fissure in the earth's crust through which gases erupt
Created on Fri Jan 13 11:50:57 EST 2017 (updated Fri Apr 07 14:34:34 EDT 2017)

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