pequenos

Pequenos is the plural masculine form of the Portuguese adjective pequeno, meaning “small” or “little.” In Portuguese, the word can function as an adjective or, in certain contexts, as a noun.

As an adjective, pequenos modifies masculine plural nouns, as in objetos pequenos (small objects) or animais pequenos (small animals). The feminine forms are pequenas (plural) and pequena (singular), used to agree with feminine nouns.

As a noun, os pequenos can refer to children or younger people, often in familial or affectionate speech, roughly equivalent to “the little ones” in English. In this use, the term conveys a sense of youth or diminutiveness rather than size alone.

Etymology and cognates: Pequeno comes from Latin parvus. The Spanish cognate is pequeño, written with a tilde, reflecting orthographic differences between the languages. Despite the spelling differences, the core meaning—smallness or littleness—remains shared among Romance languages.

Usage notes: Portuguese grammar requires gender and number agreement between pequeno and the noun it describes. In formal writing, precise agreement is expected; in informal speech, pequenos can carry affectionate or diminutive nuances. The word is not ordinarily used as a standalone proper noun in standard references, though it may appear in titles or idiomatic expressions.

See also: pequeno, pequenino, pequenos objects.