chilense

Chilense is a Spanish adjective and demonym used to refer to Chile and to things associated with Chile, including its people, culture, geography, and products. It is formed from the country name Chile with the suffix -ense, a common way to create origin-based adjectives and demonyms in Spanish. The form chilense is invariable for gender, and its plural is chilenses.

As an adjective, chilense describes something from Chile: música chilense, arquitectura chilense, costumbres chilenses, comida chilense. When referring to people, the more common demonyms are chileno (masculine) and chilena (feminine). Chilense can be used to emphasize national origin in formal, descriptive, or literary contexts, but it is less typical in everyday speech for identifying a person.

As a noun, chilense is rare and regional; most contexts would use chileno/a to refer to a person from Chile. In practice, chilense is widely used for cultural, artistic, or historical descriptions (for example, “literatura chilense” or “arte chilense”) and for labeling products or destinations tied to Chile.

Historically and in various Spanish-speaking regions, the choice between chilense and chileno/a can reflect tone and register. The related term for a person is chileno/a, while chilense remains a valid option for describing origin or belonging, particularly in cultural or formal language.