Rio Grande

English

Alternative forms

• Rio Grande River (commonly used but redundant as the Rio means “river”)

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish Río Grande (“big river”).

The Rio Grande river basin

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɹiːoʊˈɡɹænd/
• (partly hispanicised) IPA^(key): /ˌɹiːoʊˈɡɹændeɪ/, /ˌɹiːoʊˈɡɹɑːndeɪ/
• (dated) IPA^(key): /ˌɹaɪ.oʊ ˈɡɹænd/

Proper noun

the Rio Grande

1. A major river in the United States and Mexico, starting in Colorado, flowing through New Mexico, and forming the boundary between Texas and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas for most of its length.
   • 1848, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo‎^[1]:

     Article V.
     The Boundary line between the two Republics shall commence in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande, otherwise called Rio Bravo del Norte, or opposite the mouth of it’s deepest branch, if it should have more than one branch emptying directly into the sea; from thence up the middle of that river, following the deepest channel, where it has more than one, to the point where it strikes the southern boundary of New Mexico; thence, westwardly, along the whole southern boundary of New Mexico (which runs north of the town called Paso) to it’s western termination; thence, northward, along the western line of New Mexico, until it intersects the first branch of the river Gila; (or if it should not intersect any branch of that river, then, to the point on the said line nearest to such branch, and thence in a direct line to the same;) thence down the middle of the said branch and of the said river, until it empties into the Rio Colorado; thence, across the Rio Colorado, following the division line between Upper and Lower California, to the Pacific Ocean.

   • 1864, William Henry Hurlbert, General McClellan and the Conduct of the War‎^[2], New York: Sheldon and Company, →OCLC, →OL, page 12:

     He was graduated with the second honors of his class in 1846; assigned to duty with a company of the Engineers, and ordered before the close of the year into active service on the line of the Rio Grande River.

   • 1979, James Wakefield Burke, A Forgotten Glory: the Missions of Old Texas‎^[3], Waco, TX: Texian Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 62:

     The Zuma and Manzo Indians of the area were in the habit of going to the missions in the Spanish provinces below the Rio Grande River to solicit the padres to come to teach and baptize them in their villages.

   • 1991, Gary Reyes, Texas: the Land, the People, the Cities‎^[4], Mallard Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 10:

     When Mexico gained its independence from Spain, the new country also obtained control over the lands North of the Rio Grande River that had been previously held by the Spanish.

   • 2017, Philip J. Potter, Explorers and Their Quest For North America‎^[5], Pen & Sword, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 118:

     Leaving Acoma, the captain and his soldiers advanced north-east, reaching the Rio Grande River on 7 September.

   • 2021, Joseph Masco, The Future of Fallout, and Other Episodes in Radioactive World-Making‎^[6], Duke University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 54:

     In the immediate post-Cold War moment, New Mexico’s military role only expanded in importance, with formal calls for the twenty-first-century U.S. nuclear weapons complex to be consolidated along the Rio Grande River (Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Task Force 1995).

Derived terms

• Rio Grande City
• Rio Grande County
• Rio Grande River
• Rio Grande Valley

 

Translations

river between Mexico and Texas

• Apache:

  Jicarilla: Kótsoi

• Navajo: Tooh Baʼáadii
• Polish: Rio Grande (pl) n
• Portuguese: Rio Grande (pt) m
• Spanish: Río Bravo m, Río Bravo del Norte m

Portuguese

Proper noun

Rio Grande m

1. Clipping of Rio Grande do Sul.
2. Clipping of Rio Grande do Norte.
3. A municipality of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
4. Rio Grande (river between Texas and Mexico)