-zão

See also: zao

Portuguese

Etymology

From -z- +‎ -ão. Akin to Spanish -zón.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈzɐ̃w̃/ [ˈzɐ̃ʊ̯̃]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈzɐ̃w̃/

Suffix

-zão m (noun-forming suffix, plural -zões, feminine -zona, feminine plural -zonas)
-zão (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -zona, masculine plural -zões, feminine plural -zonas)

1. alternative form of -ão, used especially when the preceding letter is a semivowel or when the word is an oxytone; more generically, used in agglutination, after the entire word, rather than in a fusion

   Antonym: -zinho

   ‎café (“coffee”) + ‎-zão → ‎cafezão (“big coffee”)

   ‎caqui (“persimmon”) + ‎-zão → ‎caquizão (“big persimmon”)

   ‎pá (“shovel”) + ‎-zona → ‎pazona (“big shovel”)

   ‎pão (“bread”) + ‎-zão → ‎pãozão (“big bread”)

Further reading

• “-zão”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026