pau
Portuguese, noun/ˈpaw/
pau is spelled P-A-U (3 letters) and appears 37 times per million words in written Portuguese, the 2,474th most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Pau is a Portuguese masculine noun meaning “stick” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a singular of paus (“clubs”) (one of the four suits of playing cards). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “bastão de madeira”.
What does pau mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculinestick
- 2
masculinewood
- 3
masculineslangvulgarpenis, dick, cock, prick
- 4
masculinesingular of paus (“clubs”) (one of the four suits of playing cards)
- 5
masculineslanga unit of currency
Isso custou uns 500 paus.
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
noun: 1. bastão de madeira 2. pênis 3. surra 4. briga
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of pau
- paus plural
- páo alternative obsolete
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce pau?
- Brazil /ˈpaw/
- Brazil [ˈpaʊ̯]
- Portugal /ˈpaw/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to pau
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is pau in Portuguese?
pau appears 37 times per million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).