Delgada

Delgada is a feminine form of the adjective delgado, meaning slender, thin, or lean in Spanish and Portuguese. As a toponym, it is used in multiple Iberian- and Latin American-speaking regions to name places, often reflecting a narrow geographic feature such as a strait, pass, valley, or a slender stretch of coastline or land.

The word may appear alone as Delgada or with articles and qualifiers, depending on local language conventions. Place names using Delgada are part of broader naming patterns in the region, where descriptive adjectives are incorporated into toponyms from early settlement or exploration periods. The term remains in use in historical references and, in some cases, on contemporary maps.

Delgada is the feminine form of the adjective; the masculine counterpart is Delgado, which is also a common surname and appears in toponymic contexts. When researching a location, it is helpful to distinguish between the two forms, as they may reflect different linguistic traditions or historical naming practices.