pretil

Old High German

Etymology

Likely from Proto-Germanic *brezda-, related to Proto-Germanic *burdą.

Noun

pretil f

1. (Lombardic) lath

Descendants

• → Italian: predella

Spanish

Etymology

Metathesis of older petril, from Old Spanish, from Vulgar Latin *pectōrīlis, *pectōrīle, from Latin pectus (“chest”). Compare Portuguese peitoril.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɾeˈtil/ [pɾeˈt̪il]
• Rhymes: -il
• Syllabification: pre‧til

Noun

pretil m (plural pretiles)

1. (architecture) parapet (low wall)
   • 2015 July 5, “Un dinosaurio al borde del abismo”, in El País‎^[1]:

     Vivimos en el borde de un abismo y el arte nos permite poner frágiles pretiles ante la nada.

     We live on the edge of an abyss, and art allows us to place fragile walls against the nothingness.

Related terms

• pecho
• petral, pretal

Further reading

• “pretil”, 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

Anagrams

• petril, reptil