adicional

Adicional is a term used in Spanish and Portuguese with two main senses. As an adjective, it means additional, extra, or supplementary, used to describe something that is added to a core amount or item, such as costo adicional (additional cost) or beneficio adicional (additional benefit). As a noun, it commonly denotes an extra payment or allowance included with salary or contractual compensation, for example un adicional por nocturnidad or adicionales de insalubridad.

Etymology and usage notes

Adicional derives from Latin additio, meaning an addition, combined with the adjectival suffix -al. The word is widely used across Spanish-speaking countries and in Portuguese-speaking regions, often appearing in labor, finance, and legal contexts. In both languages, the adverbial form adicionalmente (Spanish) or adicionalmente (Portuguese) means “in addition” or “furthermore.”

Typical contexts

In employment terms, an adicional is a supplementary pay item such as night-shift differential, danger pay, or incentives beyond the base salary. In commercial or administrative language, it describes any added quantity or feature, for example un cargo adicional to your order, or una cuota adicional on a service agreement. The term also appears in phrases like costo adicional, gasto adicional, and beneficio adicional to signal elements that increase beyond an initial estimate.

Cross-linguistic notes

In Brazilian Portuguese, adicional functions similarly as an adjective and as a noun (um adicional). In European Portuguese, the usage aligns closely with the Spanish pattern, with additional forms like adicionalmente appearing as an adverb. The concept is common in payroll, contracting, and budgeting in both languages.