preto

See also: prêto

Galician

Etymology

Back-formation from apretar (“tighten, push, squeeze, compress”). The semantic evolution to "dark" comes through the sense of "tight" or "thick".[1] Another common, but less likely, etymology suggested is Vulgar Latin *prettus, from Latin pressus. Compare Portuguese preto, Asturian prietu, Spanish prieto.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈpɾetʊ]

Adverb

preto

near, nearby
- 1390, J. L. Pensado Tomé (ed.), Os Miragres de Santiago. Madrid: C. S. I. C., page 98:
  Et quando o diserõ a Calrros, volueuse a França et a grã presa enviou a todo los seus a longe et a preto que viesen a el.
  And when Charlemagne was told this, he returned to France and in great hurry he sent for all his, far and near, to come to him
Antonym: lonxe

Derived terms

preto de

Adjective

preto m (feminine singular preta, masculine plural pretos, feminine plural pretas)

dark, swarthy, black
- 1842, Juan Manuel Pintos, Meu Querido Pai:
  Ali venden millo
  Trigo è mais centeo
  Fabas è castañas
  Roupa è trapos vellos;
  Tamen venden louza
  De côr branco e prêto,
  Hai tendas do chan
  E tamen cubertos
  Con cousas do uso
  Todas a bon prezo
  There they sell corn
  wheat and also rye
  beans and chestnuts
  clothes and old rags
  also they sell dishware
  of colour white and black,
  there they sell on the ground
  and also under cover
  with handy things
  all at a good price
Synonyms: louro, negro
Antonyms: branco, claro

References

“preto” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
“preto” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
“preto” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
“preto” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
“preto” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Joan Coromines; José A. Pascual (1983–1991), “prieto”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico (in Spanish), Madrid: Gredos.

Ladino

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese preto.

Adjective

preto (Latin spelling)

black

Old Portuguese

Etymology

From earlier *apreto, from apretar, from Late Latin appectorāre, from Latin pectus (“chest”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpɾeto/

Adjective

preto m (plural pretos, feminine preta, feminine plural pretas)

black
Synonym: negro

Descendants

Galician: preto
Ladino: preto
Portuguese: preto

Adverb

preto

near
- 13th century CE, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, E codex, cantiga 325 (facsimile):
  […] que pã nõ comeu nẽ bocado nen beueu agua nẽ uỹo ata que preto de Silve foi quando aluzeçia.
  […] that she didn’t eat bread nor morsel, neither drank water nor wine until she was near Silves during sunrise.

Descendants

Galician: preto
Portuguese: perto

Portuguese

preto

Alternative forms

prêto (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old Portuguese preto (“black, near”), from earlier *apreto, from apretar (Modern Portuguese apertar (“tighten, press, clamp”)), from Late Latin appectorāre, from Latin pectus (“chest”). The semantic evolution to "black" or "dark" comes through the sense of "dense" or "thick". See also the related perto. Another common, but less likely, etymology suggested is a Vulgar Latin *prettus, from pressus[1].

Compare Asturian and Leonese prietu, Ladino preto, and Spanish prieto.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpɾe.tu/

Hyphenation: pre‧to

Adjective

preto (feminine preta, masculine plural pretos, feminine plural pretas)

black; black in colour
Synonym: (somewhat formal) negro
Tecido preto esquenta mais rápido.
Black cloth heats up more quickly
(Brazil, idiomatic, of situations) bad; very adverse
Synonyms: negro (Portugal), feio, (formal) adverso
A coisa está preta.
The current situation is bad.
(of a person) black (dark-skinned)
Synonym: negro
Uma mulher preta passou por aqui.
A black woman was here.
(loosely) being the darkest of its kind
pão preto ― rye bread
peças pretas de xadrez ― black chess pieces
nuvem preta ― black cloud

Derived terms

pretinho (diminutive)
pretão (augmentative)

Derived terms

chá preto
macaco-preto
Ouro Preto
pão preto
pau-preto
peixe-espada-preto
preto e branco

Noun

preto m (plural pretos, feminine preta, feminine plural pretas)

the color black
O preto é a mais escura das cores.
Black is the darkest colour.
a black person
Uma preta passou por aqui.
A black woman was here.
black clothing
Pessoas em luto se vestem de preto.
Mourners dress in black.

Synonyms

(the colour black): negro
(black man): negro, macaco (Brazil, pejorative), tição (Brazil, pejorative)
(black clothing): negro

Derived terms

pretinho (diminutive)
pretão (augmentative)

Descendants

Angolar: peetu
Guinea-Bissau Creole: pretu
Indo-Portuguese: prato
Kabuverdianu: prétu
Korlai Creole Portuguese: pret
Kristang: pretu
→ Ladino: preto
Papiamentu: pretu
Principense: peetu
Sãotomense: pletu

References

https://www.infopedia.pt/dicionarios/lingua-portuguesa/preto

Slovak

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈpreto]

Adverb

preto

therefore, hence

References

preto in Slovak dictionaries at slovnik.juls.savba.sk

[1] Joan Coromines; José A. Pascual (1983–1991), “prieto”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico (in Spanish), Madrid: Gredos.

[2] ttps://www.infopedia.pt/dicionarios/lingua-portuguesa/preto