# prea
## Galician
### Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese, from Latin praeda (“booty, prey”), from earlier praeheda, from prae + Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to hold”). Cognate with Portuguese preia, English prey.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpɾea̝/

### Noun

prea f (plural preas)
* body of a dead animal
* prey, game
* booty
** 1295, Ramón Lorenzo, editor, La traducción gallega de la Crónica General y de la Crónica de Castilla, Ourense: I.E.O.P.F., page 232:Et correullj a terra et astragoulla, et leuou ende muy grandes preas, et o al que ficaua queymoullo todo.He raided his land and wasted it, taking away many spoils, and what was left behind he put it in fire
** 1775, María Francisca Isla y Losada, Romance:Anque à prea non hègrande si ca si, ò sacristan disque à pestàna do figado se lle hiba alegrando já. Ô cont'hè, si enturra n'eso Deus me libre das suas más, que'anque eu non queira, na Coba de chantarme heche capàz.Although the booty is not large, anyhow, the sacristan's liver's eyes, reportedly, were shinning bright. The issue is, if he persists, God save me from his hands, that even if I don't want, in the grave he is capable of thrusting me
* (regional) delicious food
* (figurative) mean, stupid, or untidy person
    Déixao de molestar, non sexas prea!Stop harassing him, don't be mean!
* (figurative) drunkness
    Ten unha prea que non se lambe ― He's so drunk he can barely speak

#### Related terms

* preada
* prear
* preeiro

### References

* Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “prea”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “prea”, 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), “prea”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “prea”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

## Romanian
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin prae, or less likely borrowed from Old Church Slavonic прѣ (prě)

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpre̯a/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -a

### Adverb

prea
* (stressed, modifying adjectives) too (to an excessive degree)
    E încă prea devreme.It’s still too early.
    Sunt prea mulți oameni înăuntru.There are too many people inside.
* (stressed, informal, modifying verbs) too much
    Prea te grăbești!You’re rushing too much!
* (unstressed, informal, chiefly in the negative, modifying adjectives) too (to a high degree)
    Să fii concediat nu este prea plăcut.Being laid off isn’t too pleasant.
* (unstressed, informal, chiefly in the negative, modifying verbs) much, too much, really
    Situația nu se prea îmbunătățește.The situation isn’t improving much.
    Nu prea am văzut nimic.I didn’t really see anything.
    ―Te-ai descurcat? ―Nu prea.“Did you do well?” “Not really.”
* (archaic) most, very, highly
** 1840 August 18, Gheorghe Bariț, editor, Gazeta de Transilvania, year 3, number 34, Brașov, page 136:О табакере кꙋ брілантꙋрі̆ преа богат ꙟмфрꙋмсъцатъ, ші о скрісоаре де ꙟнсꙋші̆ мѫна Сꙋлтанꙋлꙋі̆ […]O tabachere cu brilanturi prea bogat îmfrumsățată, și o scrisoare de însuși mâna Sultanului […] A snuffbox most richly decorated with diamonds, and a letter by the hand of the Sultan himself […]
* (North-East Oltenia) Synonym of cam (“approximately”).

#### Usage notes

* ↑ In contemporary literary language, prea behaves like English too in that it can only indirectly modify verbs through the construction prea mult (“too much”). It is now only in informal language that prea modifies a verb directly. Thus, “I’m worrying too much” can be translated as: Mă îngrijorez prea mult (stylistically neutral, most common) Prea mă îngrijorez (now informal) Mă prea îngrijorez (more typical of old language)

#### Derived terms

* nici prea-prea, nici foarte-foarte
* prea-
* prea de tot

### References

* ↑ Ciaușanu, G. F., Fira, G., Popescu, C. M. (1928) Culegere de folclor din jud. Vâlcea și împrejurimi [Collection of folklore from Vâlcea County and its surroundings] (Din viața poporului român [From the life of the Romanian people]; 34)‎ (in Romanian), Bucharest: Cultura Națională, page 190

### Further reading

* prea in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)
* Iorgu Iordan, Alexandru Graur, Ion Coteanu, editors (1978), Dicționarul Limbii Române‎, volume 8, part 5, Bucharest: Academy of the Socialist Republic of Romania, pages 1239–1241

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpɾea/ [ˈpɾe.a]
* Rhymes: -ea
* Syllabification: pre‧a

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin praeda, from earlier praeheda, from prae- + Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to hold”).

#### Alternative forms

* preda (obsolete)

#### Noun

prea f (plural preas)
* taking; something taken

##### Related terms

* prear
* predar

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

prea
* inflection of prear:
** third-person singular present indicative
** second-person singular imperative

### Further reading

* “prea”, 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

## Tok Pisin
### Etymology

From English prayer.

### Noun

prea
* prayer