cateto

Italian

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cateto

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Etymology

From Latin cathetus, from Ancient Greek κάθετος (káthetos). The forwarding of the accent may be explained as a false analogy with the suffix -eto from Latin -ētum (“a grove of ...”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈtɛ.to/
• Rhymes: -ɛto
• Hyphenation: ca‧tè‧to

Noun

cateto m (plural cateti)

1. (geometry) cathetus

Derived terms

• catetometro

Anagrams

• coatte

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin cathetus, from Ancient Greek κάθετος (káthetos).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaˈtɛ.tu/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaˈtɛ.tu/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaˈtɛ.to/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐˈtɛ.tu/

• Rhymes: -ɛtu
• Hyphenation: ca‧te‧to

Noun

cateto m (plural catetos)

1. leg (of a triangle)

Further reading

• “cateto”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “cateto”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cathetus, from Ancient Greek κάθετος (káthetos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈteto/ [kaˈt̪e.t̪o]
• Rhymes: -eto
• Syllabification: ca‧te‧to

Noun

cateto m (plural catetos)

1. (geometry) cathetus (leg of a triangle)

Usage notes

• Cateto menor is used to refer to the shorter cathetus, while cateto mayor is used to refer to the longer cathetus (of a given right triangle).

Noun

cateto m (plural catetos, feminine cateta, feminine plural catetas)

1. (derogatory) peasant, country bumpkin; hick

   Synonyms: huaso, paleto, palurdo

Further reading

• “cateto”, 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