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". 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

1. 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)

1. 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.

Ladino

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese preto.

Adjective

preto (Latin spelling)

1. black

Old Galician-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)

1. black

   Synonym: negro

Descendants

• Galician: preto
• Ladino: preto
• Portuguese: preto

Adverb

preto

1. 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

See also

Colors in Old Galician-Portuguese · coores, colores (layout · text)

branco, blanco, alvo	gris	negro, preto
vermello	castanho	amarelo
	verde
		azur
	cardẽo	rosa

Portuguese

preto

Alternative forms

• prêto (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old Galician-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.

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)

1. black; black in colour

   Synonym: (somewhat formal) negro

   Tecido preto esquenta mais rápido.

   Black cloth heats up more quickly

2. (Brazil, idiomatic, of situations) bad; very adverse

   Synonyms: negro (Portugal), feio, (formal) adverso

   A coisa está preta.

   The current situation is bad.

3. (of a person) black (dark-skinned)

   Synonym: negro

   Uma mulher preta passou por aqui.

   A black woman was here.

4. (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)

1. the color black

   O preto é a mais escura das cores.

   Black is the darkest colour.

2. a black person

   Uma preta passou por aqui.

   A black woman was here.

3. 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

See also

Colors in Portuguese · cores (layout · text)

branco, alvo, cândido	cinza, gris, cinzento	preto, negro, atro
vermelho, encarnado, rubro, salmão; carmim	laranja, cor-de-laranja; castanho, marrom	amarelo, lúteo; creme, ocre
verde-limão	verde, verde claro
ciano, turquesa; azul-petróleo	azul céu, azul-celeste	azul,índigo, anil
violeta, lilás	magenta; roxo, púrpura	rosa, cor-de-rosa, rosa-choque

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpreto]

Adverb

preto

1. therefore, hence

References

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