bulgarian

bulgarian — adjective

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

1.adjectiveA2
Definition

connected with Bulgaria, the people who live there, or the language used there.

Example

Hana bought a Bulgarian cookbook after her trip to Sofia.

modifies products and cultural items from Bulgaria

The museum opened a small Bulgarian art show last Friday.

describes art linked with the country

Common collocations
  • Bulgarian food
  • Bulgarian music
  • Bulgarian history
  • Bulgarian village
Synonyms
  • Balkan

    broader; covers the whole Balkan region, not only Bulgaria

  • Eastern European

    broader and more geographic; not specific to Bulgaria

Usage Note

Usually comes before nouns such as food, music, art, or village. When the word itself names a person, noun sense 1 is often the clearer choice: 'a Bulgarian'.

Common Mistakes

We ate Bulgaria food at the fair.
We ate Bulgarian food at the fair.
use the adjective before a noun, not the country name.
this is a bulgarian song
this is a Bulgarian song
nationality words begin with a capital letter in English.

bulgarian — noun

Word family

  • Bulgaria
    nounA2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

'Bulgarian' is the exact word for something linked with Bulgaria itself, so it works for food, music, history, people, and the language. 'Balkan' is broader and regional: Balkan food or Balkan politics may include Bulgaria, but also nearby countries such as Serbia or Greece. 'Eastern European' is wider still and is mostly geographic, often used in travel writing or news. 'Slavic' focuses on language or ethnic background, not one modern country, so Bulgarian is a Slavic language, but not every Slavic language is Bulgarian. Compare 'Bulgarian yogurt' for a product from one country, 'Balkan music' for a regional style, and 'a Slavic language' when talking about language families.

Bulgarian ↗BalkanEastern EuropeanSlavic

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

Bulgarian comes from the country name Bulgaria plus the ending -an, which English often uses in nationality words. The place name goes back to the Bulgars, a people who moved into the Balkan area in the early Middle Ages. Through Greek and Latin forms of the name, English developed Bulgarian for the people, the language, and things connected with the country.