pela
Portuguese, contraction
pela is spelled P-E-L-A (4 letters) and appears 1,698 times per million words in written Portuguese, the 53rd most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Pela is a Portuguese feminine contraction meaning “contraction of per + a, literally “by/through the (feminine singular)”: feminine singular of pelo” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a third-person singular present indicative of pelar. With an accent, péla is a different word: “pre-reform spelling (used until 1990) of pela; still used where the…”. The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “contração de per + a”.
What does pela mean in English?
contraction
- 1
femininecontraction of per + a, literally “by/through the (feminine singular)”: feminine singular of pelo
verb
- 1
third-person singular present indicative
- 2
second-person singular imperative
verb
- 1
pre-reform spelling (used until 1990) of pela; still used where the agreement hasn’t come into effect and may occur as a sporadic misspelling
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
contraction: 1. contração de per + a
noun: 1. bola revestida de pele 2. bola de borracha 3. joguete
noun: 1. cada uma das camadas de cortiça dos sobreiros
noun: 1. vide pela
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 pela
- pla alternative syncope
- pella alternative obsolete
- péla alternative
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to pela
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is pela in Portuguese?
pela appears 1,698 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).