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, perto, Asturian prietu, Spanish prieto.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɾeto/ [ˈpɾe.t̪ʊ]
• Rhymes: -eto

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

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “preto”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “preto”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “preto”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “preto”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “preto”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Borrowed from Portuguese preto.

preto

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
   • a. 1284, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice de los músicos, 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

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". Another common, but less likely, etymology suggested is a Vulgar Latin *prettus, from pressus.

Doublet of perto. Cognate with Galician preto, Asturian and Leonese prietu, Ladino preto, and Spanish prieto.

• prêto (pre-reform spelling)

• Audio (Northern Portugal):

  (file)

• 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) 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 (uncountable)

1. the color black

   Synonym: negro

   O preto é a mais escura das cores.

   Black is the darkest colour.

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

1. (dated, now usually offensive) a black person

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

   Uma preta passou por aqui.

   A black woman was here.

2. (Portugal, colloquial) any of the lowest value euro coins (0.01 €, 0.02 € and 0.05 €) which, being made out of copper-covered steel, are darker than the higher value coins

• Nowadays it's generally considered crass or even outright offensive to use preto as a noun when referring to black people. Use as an adjective is not inherently offensive (such as in "homem preto", compare "a black" vs. "a black person") but may still be considered somewhat "harsher" than negro, which is less offensive in all contexts.

• Rhymes: -ɛtu
• Hyphenation: pre‧to

preto (comparable)

2. (obsolete outside of Trás-os-Montes) alternative form of perto

• “preto”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “preto”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “preto”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025
• “preto”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025

• 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, 2003–2025