Latin AmericaBrE/ˌlætɪn əˈmerɪkə/NAmE/ˌlætn əˈmerɪkə/noun[U]thepartsoftheAmericasinwhichSpanishorPortugueseisthemainlanguage拉丁美洲（以西班牙语或葡萄牙语为主要语言的美洲地区）America
The continent of America is divided into North America and South America. The narrow region joining North and South America is Central America.美洲 (America) 大陆划分为北美洲 (North America) 和南美洲 (South America)，连接两地的地峡为中美洲 (Central America)。
North America, which is a geographical term, consists of the United States of America, Canada and Mexico. Latin America, a cultural term, refers to the non-English speaking countries of Central and South America, where mainly Portuguese and Spanish are spoken. Mexico is part of Latin America.北美洲 (North America) 是地理称谓，由美国 (United States of America)、加拿大 (Canada) 和墨西哥 (Mexico) 组成。拉丁美洲 (Latin America) 是文化称谓，指中美洲和南美洲的非英语国家，那里主要说葡萄牙语和西班牙语。墨西哥是拉丁美洲的一部分。
The United States of America is usually shortened to the USA, the US, the States or simply America. * the United States of America（美国）通常简称为 the USA、the US、the States 或干脆叫 America：◆the US President美国总统◆Have you ever been to the States?你去过美国吗？◆She emigrated to America in 1995.她 1995 年移民美国。 Many people from other parts of the continent dislike this use of America to mean just the US, but it is very common.虽然在美洲大陆其他地方，许多人不喜欢用 America 指美国，但此用法非常普遍。
American is usually used to talk about somebody or something from the United States of America. * American 通常指美国的人或事物：◆Do you have an American passport?你有美国护照吗？◆American football美式足球◆I'm not American, I'm Canadian.我不是美国人，我是加拿大人。Latin American and South American are used to refer to other parts of the continent. * Latin American（拉丁美洲的；拉丁美洲人）和 South American（南美洲的；南美洲人）指美洲大陆的其他部分：◆Latin American dance music拉丁美洲舞曲◆Quite a lot of South Americans study here.相当多的南美洲人在这里学习。