pleito

Portuguese

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin placitum. Cognate with Spanish pleito and English plea.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈplej.tu/ [ˈpleɪ̯.tu]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈplej.tu/ [ˈpleɪ̯.tu]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈplej.to/ [ˈpleɪ̯.to]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈplɐj.tu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈplɐj.tu/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈplej.tu/
  • (Central Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈplej.tu/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈple.tu/

• Hyphenation: plei‧to

Noun

pleito m (plural pleitos)

1. lawsuit

   Synonym: processo

2. disagreement, argument

   Synonyms: discussão, briga

3. electoral debate
4. (archaic) pact

Related terms

• pleitear

Further reading

• “pleito”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “pleito”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Ultimately from Medieval Latin placitum. Cognate with Portuguese pleito and English plea.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpleito/ [ˈplei̯.t̪o]

• Audio (Costa Rica):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eito
• Syllabification: plei‧to

Noun

pleito m (plural pleitos)

1. (law) lawsuit

   Synonyms: juicio, demanda, proceso

   • 2024 January 9, Miguel Jiménez, Iker Seisdedos, “Caso cerrado: el Thyssen gana el pleito para quedarse el ‘pisarro’ expoliado por los nazis”, in El País‎^[1]:

     Un pleito millonario de casi dos décadas había quedado reducido a una pregunta aparentemente simple para resolverlo: ¿se debe aplicar la ley española o la californiana?

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (Latin America, Canary Islands) fight (physical)

   Synonym: pelea

3. (Latin America, Canary Islands) fight (verbal), argument

   Synonym: pelea

   pleito insular ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Derived terms

• buscapleitos
• picapleitos
• pleitear

Further reading

• “pleito”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025