preto

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.

• IPA^(key): [ˈpɾetʊ]

preto

1. near, nearby

   Antonym: lonxe

   • 1390, J. L. Pensado Tomé, editor, 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

• preto de

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

1. dark, swarthy, black

   Synonyms: louro, negro

   Antonyms: branco, claro

   • 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

• “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.

Borrowed from Portuguese preto.

preto (Latin spelling)

1. black

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɾeto/

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

1. black

   Synonym: negro

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

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.

• Galician: preto
• Portuguese: perto

• prêto (obsolete)

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.[1]

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

• Rhymes: -etu
• Hyphenation: pre‧to

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

1. black; black in colour

   Synonym: (somewhat formal) negro

   O tecido preto aquece/esquenta mais rapidamente.

   Black cloth heats up more quickly.

2. (loosely) being the darkest of its kind

   pão preto ― rye bread

   peças pretas de xadrez ― black chess pieces

   nuvem preta ― black cloud

3. (of a person, usually offensive) black (dark-skinned)

   Synonym: negro (less offensive)

   Uma mulher preta esteve cá.

   A black woman was here.

4. (idiomatic, of situations) bad; very adverse

   Synonyms: negro, feio, (formal) adverso

   A coisa está preta.

   The current situation is bad.

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

1. the color black

   Synonym: negro

   O preto é a mais escura das cores.

   Black is the darkest colour.

2. (usually offensive, ethnic slur) a black person

   Synonyms: (less offensive) negro, (Brazil, pejorative) macaco, (Brazil, pejorative) tição

   Uma preta passou por aqui.

   A black woman was here.

• IPA^(key): [ˈpretɔ]

preto

1. therefore, hence

• “preto”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024