Portuguese man / gold coin
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Portuguese man
A man or male person who comes from Portugal or has Portuguese citizenship.
Mein neuer Kollege ist Portugiese und hat ein Restaurant in der Altstadt eröffnet.
My new colleague is a Portuguese man and has opened a restaurant in the old town.
Portuguese gold coin
A term for a large historical gold coin that was originally minted in Portugal and later imitated in northern German cities.
Im Museum war ein seltener Hamburger Portugiese aus dem 17. Jahrhundert ausgestellt.
A rare Hamburg Portuguese gold coin from the 17th century was on display in the museum.
'Der Portugiese' (the Portuguese man) belongs to the N-declension. This means that the noun takes the ending '-n' in all cases except the nominative singular. Learners often make mistakes with this.
Ich habe gestern einen Portugiesen kennengelernt.
I met a Portuguese man yesterday.
The word is derived directly from the country 'Portugal' (Portugal). The word family also includes the adjective 'portugiesisch' (Portuguese), which is used to describe things or qualities.
Er ist Portugiese und lebt seit fünf Jahren in Deutschland.
He is Portuguese and has been living in Germany for five years.
The meaning 'Goldmünze' (gold coin) is very rare and limited to historical or numismatic contexts. In normal usage, 'der Portugiese' (the Portuguese man) always means a person from Portugal.
Die Ausstellung zeigte einen goldenen Portugiesen aus dem 16. Jahrhundert.
The exhibition showed a golden Portuguese coin from the 16th century.
