a state in Central America, on the Caribbean Sea: site of a Mayan civilization until the 9th century ad; colonized by the British from 1638; granted internal self-government in 1964; became an independent state within the Commonwealth in 1981. Official language: English; Spanish and Creole are also widely spoken. Religion: Roman Catholic majority. Currency: Belize dollar. Capital: Belmopan. Pop: 374 681 (2017 est). Area: 22 965 sq km (8867 sq miles)
Former name (until 1973): British Honduras
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
Be•lize
(bə lēz′),USA pronunciation n. Be•li•ze•an
(bə lē′zē ən),USA pronunciation adj., n.
- Place NamesFormerly, British Honduras. a parliamentary democracy in N Central America: a former British crown colony; gained independence 1981. 224,663;
8867 sq. mi. (22,966 sq. km). Cap.: Belmopan. - Place NamesAlso called Belize′ Cit′y. a seaport in and the main city of Belize. 50,000.
- Place Namesa river flowing NE through Belize to the Gulf of Honduras. 180 mi. (290 km) long.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'Belize' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Belize City
- Belizean
- Belmopan
- British Honduras
- Central America
- Hondo
- Honduras
- Maya
- Mayan
- Organization of American States
- Spanish America
- Yucatán
- cent
- dollar
- ocellated turkey
- unmarbelize