bulgarian

IPA/bʌlˈɡeə.ri.ən/
KK[bəlɡˈɛriən]IPA/bʊlˈɡer.i.ən/

bulgarian — adjective

  • bulgarianpositive
  • more bulgariancomparative
  • most bulgariansuperlative

1. connected with Bulgaria, the people who live there, or the language they speak

1.adjectiveA2
Definition

connected with Bulgaria, the people who live there, or the language they speak

Example

Mateo ordered Bulgarian yogurt with honey at the hotel breakfast.

collocation: Bulgarian yogurt

The Bulgarian winter can stay cold until late March.

Common collocations
  • Bulgarian food
  • Bulgarian music
  • Bulgarian language
  • Bulgarian city
  • Bulgarian teacher

Usage Note

Always capitalize Bulgarian. It usually comes before a noun when you describe the country's people, culture, food, or language.

Common Mistakes

We tried Bulgaria food at the market.
We tried Bulgarian food at the market.
use the adjective Bulgarian before another noun, not the country name Bulgaria.

bulgarian — noun

Word family

  • Bulgaria
    proper nounA1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Bulgarian is the exact word when something belongs specifically to Bulgaria: its people, language, food, history, or culture. Balkan is wider and regional. It can include Bulgaria, but it can also describe nearby countries in southeastern Europe, so a Balkan festival may feature music from several nations. Slavic focuses on language family or ethnic background rather than nationality. Bulgarian is a Slavic language, but not everything Slavic is Bulgarian. Eastern European is broader still and is often used for geography or politics more than culture. For example, Bulgarian yogurt is a national product, a Balkan trip may cross several borders, and a Slavic language class may compare Bulgarian with Russian and Polish.

Bulgarian ↗Balkan ↗Slavic ↗Eastern European

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • a Bulgarian
  • speak Bulgarian
  • in Bulgarian

Prepositions

Etymology

BulgarBulgariaEnglish

Bulgarian comes from Bulgaria, the name of the country, plus the English ending -ian, which is often used to form words for nationality, language, or origin. Because of that pattern, the same form can work as an adjective ('Bulgarian food') and as a noun ('a Bulgarian', 'speak Bulgarian'). The country name itself goes back to the Bulgars, a people who settled in the region in the early Middle Ages.

First known use

1555

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1