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Dictionary of Portugese Words and Phrases

This list contains Portuguese words with their English translations.  The words included here are those that one is likely to find in a genealogical or historical document or record.  If the word you are looking for is not on this list, please consult a Portugese-English dictionary.

Portuguese is a Romance language very similar to Spanish.  Consequently, many Portuguese words resemble and carry similar meanings to those of Spanish.  See Spanish Word List.

Portuguese is the national language of Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique and Angola.  Portuguese is also spoken on Macau, China and in the Goa region of India.  It can also be heard in various regions of the United States of America that are heavily populated by Portuguese immigrants, such as Fall River and New Bedford, Massachusetts, and in various areas of California and Hawaii.

During the 1200s, the Galician-Portuguese dialect began to emerge in the western part of the Iberian peninsula from the then Spanish language.  It was from that dialect that the Portuguese language took shape.

As with all languages spelling was not standardized until the mid-1700s.  Clerks, in their written records, spelled words based upon the way a word sounded and also in accordance with the level of their own understanding of language as gained through their education.  Since the early 1900s many people have wanted to simplify and standardize the Portuguese spelling, primarily by removing double consonents and other 'old-fashioned' letter combinations.  In 1943 the government of Portugal and Brazil approved a new system of spelling whereby 'ph' has been replaced by the letter 'f', the 'the' by 't' and the 'y' by 'i'.  Otherwise, the variations between the old-style and modern-style of spelling words should not cause too much trouble for a researcher.  The most notable spelling change might be the removal of the tilde accent, in some instances, from above or beside the vowels 'a', 'e' and 'u'.  In the place of ã ~e or ~u, is 'am', 'em' or 'um'.

abril	April
abstratos	abstract
acidente	accident
administração	administration
administrador	administrator
adolescentes	adolescent
adultos	adult
afilhada	goddaughter
afilhado	godchild
agosto	August
amanhã	tomorrow
ano	year
anteriormente	formerly
antes de, na presença de	before, in the presence of
Arquivos Distritais	District Archive
arrendador	lessor
arrendamento	lease
aterrissam	land
atestam	attest
avó	grandmother
avô	grandfather
avós	grandparents
azar	misfortune
bangalô	cottage
baptism	baptism
batismo	christening
batizam	baptize
beneficiário	beneficiary
bens	estate
bens móveis	chattels
bens móveis	personal property
caem	fall
campo	field
camponês	peasant
capela	chapel
Cartórios Notarais	local notary registry
casar, casa-se	to marry, get married
case	banns
censo	census
Centro de Identificação Civile Criminal	National Identification Archives
certificam	certificate
chefe de família	householder
cidadania	citizenship
cidadão	citizen
codicilo	codicil
colheitas	crops
colhem	harvest
colonizador	settler
colono	colonist
comerciante	merchant
completado, feito, executou	completed, made, executed
concessão	grant
confirmação	confirmation
Conservatórias do Registo Civil	Civil Registration Archives
Conservatórias do Registo Predial	Property Registration Archives
cópia	transcript
cópia de	copy of
corte	court
credor hipotecário	mortgagee
criam	father
criança	child
data de nascimento	date of birth
de idade	of age
declaração de impostos	tax return
depoimento	affidavit
designam	assign
despesas	expenses
deus	God
devedor hipotecário	mortgagor
dez segundos minúsculos	ten seconds
dezembro	December
dia	day
dia depois que amanhã	day after tomorrow
diário, todos os dias	daily, every day
dinheiro	money
diocese	diocese
dois anos	two years
dois anos-velho	two years-old
domingo	Sunday
duas vezes por ano	two times per year
ele, ela	he, she
eles	they
enterrar	bury
enterro	funeral
escritório de registro	registry office
esposa	wife
estrada	road
extraem	extract
fazenda	farm
fazendeiro	farmer
febereiro	February
feito	deed
femininos	female
ferramentas	tools
filha	daughter
filho	son
gado	livestock
grande-avó, grande-avô	great-grandmother, great-grandfather
grandioso-tia	grand-aunt
grandioso-tio	grand-uncle
granja	homestead
guardião	guardian
habitação	tenement
habitante	inhabitant
herança	inheritance
herdam	inherit
herdeiro, herdeira	heir, heiress
hereditária	hereditary
hipotecam	mortgage
hoje	today
homologação	probate
hora	hour
idade	age
igreja	church
Igreja Católica	Catholic Church
ilegítimo	illegitimate
imposto	tax
índice	index
infantil	infant
inquilino	tenant
Instituto Portugués de Heráldica	Portuguese Institute of Heraldry
inventário	inventory
inverno	winter
investimento	investment
irmã	sister
irmão	brother
irmãos	siblings
janeiro	January
julho	July
junho	June
lar	home
legado	legacy or bequest
legatário	lessee
liberam	release
ligam	bond
lucram	profit
lugar de nascimento	birthplace
madrasta	stepmother
mãe	mother
maio	May
março	March
marido	husband
masculinos	male
mês	month
militar	military
miseráveis	pauper
morrer	marry
nascidos mortos	stillborn
nascimento	birth
natal	Christmas
necrologia	obituary
neta	granddaughter
neto	grandson or grandchild
noiva	bride
noivo, noivo	groom, bridegroom
novembro	November
ontem	yesterday
órfão	orphan
outubro	October
padrasto	stepfather
padrinhos	godparents
pagamento	payment
pai-em-lei	father-in-law
pais	parents
para vida	for life
paróquia	parish
Páscoa	Easter
passo-irmão, passo-irmã	step-brother, step-sister
pasto	pasture
patrocinadores	sponsors
pedras tumulares	tombstones
pescador	fisherman
posse de terra	land tenure
primo	cousin
propriedade móvel	moveable property
propriedade real	real property
proprietário de terras	landholder
proprietário de terras	landowner
proprietário rural	yeoman
próximo de parentela	next of kin
quarta-feira	Wednesday
quinta-feira	Thursday
registrar	to register
registro	registration
registro pobre de paróquia	parish register
rendem	surrender
rolo de imposto	tax roll
sábado	Saturday
sacerdote, vigário	priest, vicar
saltam	spring
segunda-feira	Monday
semana	week
servente	servant
setembro	September
seu	his/her
seus	their
sexta-feira	Friday
sobrenome	surname
sobrenome solteira	maiden surname
sogra	mother-in-law
sublocatário	sub-tenant
sucessão	succession
sucessor	successor
tempo	time
terça-feira	Tuesday
testador, testadora	testator, testatrix
testamento	testament, Will
testemunhas	witnesses
testemunho, evidência	testimony, evidence
tia	aunt
tio	uncle
traçam	map
tramar	devise
transportam	convey
túmulo grave	grave or tomb
verão	summer