Tupi-Sprache
Words derived from the Tupi language are particularly prevalent in place names ("Itaquaquecetuba," "Pindamonhangaba," "Caruaru", "Ipanema", "Paraíba"). The native languages also contributed the names of most of the plants and animals found in Brazil (and most of these are the official names of the animals in other Portuguese-speaking countries as well), including "arara" ("macaw"), "jacaré" ("South American caiman"), "tucano" ("toucan"), "mandioca" ("cassava"), "abacaxi" ("pineapple"), and many more. However, many Tupi–Guarani toponyms did not derive directly from Amerindian expressions, but were in fact coined by European settlers and Jesuit missionaries, who used the "Língua Geral" extensively in the first centuries of colonization. Many of the Amerindian words entered the Portuguese lexicon as early as in the 16th century, and some of them were eventually borrowed into other European languages.