Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • A country of northern Central America. The site of a Mayan civilization dating back to 1500 BC, the area was conquered by Spain in 1524. After independence was achieved (1821), Guatemala joined in a federation of Central American states (1825–1838) before becoming a separate republic in 1839. Guatemala is the capital and the largest city.
  • The capital and largest city of Guatemala, in the south-central part of the country. Founded on its present site in 1776, it was rebuilt after major earthquakes in 1917 and 1918.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A country in Central America. Official name: Republic of Guatemala.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a republic in Central America; achieved independence from Spain in 1821; noted for low per capita income and illiteracy; politically unstable

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Nahuatl cuauhtēmallān, translation of Quiché K'iche', literally "many trees".

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Examples

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  • For pronunciation, see Hank Azaria's delivery of the line: "Armand, why don't you let me be in the show? Are you afraid of my Guatemalan-ness?" in the movie The Birdcage

    March 14, 2010