# pregar
## Catalan
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan pregar, from Latin precārī.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [pɾəˈɣa]
* IPA: (Valencia) [pɾeˈɣaɾ]

### Verb

pregar (first-person singular present prego, first-person singular preterite preguí, past participle pregat); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /e/
* to pray, ask humbly (to a person)
* to pray (to God)

#### Usage notes

* In its religious sense, the verb pregar is now less common than resar, especially when speaking of non-Christian religions.

#### Related terms

* pregador
* pregària
* preguera

### See also

* pregadeu

### References

* “pregar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “pregar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “pregar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “pregar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Galician
### Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese pregar, a semi-learned borrowing from Latin plicāre (“to fold”). See also chegar, an inherited doublet.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pɾeˈɡaɾ/ [pɾeˈɣ̞ɑɾ]
* IPA: (standard) /pɾeˈɡaɾ/ [pɾeˈɣ̞ɑɾ]
* IPA: (gheada) /pɾeˈħaɾ/ [pɾeˈħɑɾ]
* Rhymes: -aɾ

#### Verb

pregar (first-person singular present prego, first-person singular preterite preguei, past participle pregado)
* (transitive) to fold
* (transitive, dated) to nail
* (of fire) to fire, burn

##### Conjugation

$^1$Less recommended.

##### Derived terms

* preganza

### Etymology 2

From Old Galician-Portuguese pregar (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Vulgar Latin *precāre, from Latin precārī.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pɾeˈɡaɾ/ [pɾeˈɣ̞ɑɾ]
* IPA: (standard) /pɾeˈɡaɾ/ [pɾeˈɣ̞ɑɾ]
* IPA: (gheada) /pɾeˈħaɾ/ [pɾeˈħɑɾ]
* Rhymes: -aɾ

#### Verb

pregar (first-person singular present prego, first-person singular preterite preguei, past participle pregado)
* to request
* to pray (to God)

##### Conjugation

$^1$Less recommended.

##### Derived terms

* pregaria

### Etymology 3

From Old Galician-Portuguese preegar, from Latin praedicāre (“to proclaim”). Doublet of predicar.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pɾɛˈɡaɾ/ [pɾɛˈɣ̞ɑɾ]
* IPA: (standard) /pɾɛˈɡaɾ/ [pɾɛˈɣ̞ɑɾ]
* IPA: (gheada) /pɾɛˈħaɾ/ [pɾɛˈħɑɾ]
* Rhymes: -aɾ

#### Verb

pregar (first-person singular present prego, first-person singular preterite preguei, past participle pregado)
* (archaic) to preach; to proclaim
** 1390, J. L. Pensado Tomé, editor, Os Miragres de Santiago, Madrid: C.S.I.C., page 47:Quando aquel Ihesus, meu señor, ya por la terras preegar, eu avia de moy grãde amor et soydade de veer a sua façe et quigi mãdar pintar a semelança do seu rrostro, que era a mays fremosa criatura do mũdo, en hũu pano por fillar cõ ela prazer et cõforto quando o vise; et querendoo fazer cõteyllo todo, et el pediome o pano et posoo ẽna sua cara et doumo encayado cõ tal figura cal era o seu santo rrostro;When that Jesus, my Lord, was going about the lands preaching, I had, because of how big was my love, longing for seeing His face; and I wanted to order a paint after His face, which was the most beautiful creation in the world, in a cloth, for having joy and confort whenever I saw it; and wanting to do it I told him, and He asked me for the cloth, put it on His face and gave it back to me stuck with a figure that was no other than His holy face;

##### Conjugation

$^1$Less recommended.

##### Derived terms

* pregador

### References

* Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “pregar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “preegar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “preg”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “preeg”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “pregar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* “pregar”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “pregar”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* “pregar” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).
* Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “pregar”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

## Ido
### Etymology

Borrowed from French prier, Italian pregare. Compare Esperanto preĝi.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /preˈɡar/

### Verb

pregar (present tense pregas, past tense pregis, future tense pregos, imperative pregez, conditional pregus)
* (transitive, religion) to pray (to)
* (transitive) to beg, entreat, beseech

#### Derived terms

* dicar prego (“to say a prayer”)
* facar prego (“to say a prayer”)
* me pregas (“I pray, I beg; if you please”)
* pregolibro (“prayer book”)
* pregostulo (“praying chair, praying desk”)

### See also

* suplikar

## Occitan
### Etymology

From Old Occitan pregar, from Latin precārī.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pɾeˈɣa/
* Audio:(file)

### Verb

pregar
* to pray
* to ask, politely request

#### Derived terms

* prèga
* pregària
* prègadieu
* en v'ac pregar

#### Dialectal variants

* prejar (Limousin)
* priar (Vivaro-alpine)
* preguejar (Gascon)

## Old Occitan
### Etymology

From Latin precārī.

### Verb

pregar
* to pray (as to God)

### References

* Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “precari”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 9: Placabilis–Pyxis, page 337

## Portuguese
### Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese pregar, a semi-learned term taken from Latin plicāre (“to fold”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to plait, to weave”). See also chegar, an inherited doublet, and the borrowing plicar.

#### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /pɾeˈɡa(ʁ)/ [pɾeˈɡa(h)]
* (Brazil) IPA: /pɾeˈɡa(ʁ)/ [pɾeˈɡa(h)]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /pɾeˈɡa(ɾ)/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /pɾeˈɡa(ʁ)/ [pɾeˈɡa(χ)]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /pɾeˈɡa(ɻ)/
* (Portugal) IPA: /pɾɨˈɡaɾ/ [pɾɨˈɣaɾ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /pɾɨˈɡaɾ/ [pɾɨˈɣaɾ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /pɾɨˈɡa.ɾi/ [pɾɨˈɣa.ɾi]
* Hyphenation: pre‧gar

#### Verb

pregar (first-person singular present prego, first-person singular preterite preguei, past participle pregado)
* to nail (employ a nail or similar object as a fastener)
    Synonym: martelar
    Antonym: despregar
* to stare
    Synonym: encarar

##### Conjugation

$^1$Brazilian Portuguese. $^2$European Portuguese.

##### Derived terms

* despregar
* pregar o olho
* pregar peça

##### Related terms

* pregada
* pregado
* prego

### Etymology 2

From Old Galician-Portuguese preegar, from Latin praedicāre (“to proclaim”), from prae (“before, in front”) + dicō (“devote, consecrate”).

#### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /pɾeˈɡa(ʁ)/ [pɾeˈɡa(h)]
* (Brazil) IPA: /pɾeˈɡa(ʁ)/ [pɾeˈɡa(h)]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /pɾeˈɡa(ɾ)/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /pɾeˈɡa(ʁ)/ [pɾeˈɡa(χ)]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /pɾeˈɡa(ɻ)/
* (Portugal) IPA: /pɾɛˈɡaɾ/ [pɾɛˈɣaɾ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /pɾɛˈɡaɾ/ [pɾɛˈɣaɾ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /pɾɛˈɡa.ɾi/ [pɾɛˈɣa.ɾi]
* Hyphenation: pre‧gar

#### Verb

pregar (first-person singular present prego, first-person singular preterite preguei, past participle pregado)
* to preach (give a sermon)
    Synonym: proferir
* to preach; to advocate (encourage support)
    Synonyms: difundir, preconizar

##### Conjugation

$^1$Brazilian Portuguese. $^2$European Portuguese.

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pɾeˈɡaɾ/ [pɾeˈɣ̞aɾ]
* Rhymes: -aɾ
* Syllabification: pre‧gar

### Verb

pregar (first-person singular present prego, first-person singular preterite pregué, past participle pregado)
* (obsolete) to fix; to join

#### Conjugation

$^1$Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language. $^2$Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.
These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

### Further reading

* “pregar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10