sumario

Sumario is a term used in Spanish and Portuguese with related meanings centered on brevity and organization. It derives from Latin summarium and shares roots with cognate words in other Romance languages. The core sense is a concise statement or an organized outline of content.

In publishing and academia, sumario can denote a concise summary of a document’s main points, or, in Portuguese, the table of contents of a book or report. In Brazilian Portuguese, sumário is commonly used for the contents page, listing chapters and sections.

In literature and research contexts, a sumário can be a short abstract or overview that helps a reader quickly grasp the scope, methodology, and conclusions of the work. The exact usage varies by country and discipline, and in some cases a more formal word such as resumen (Spanish) or resumo (Portuguese) may be used for a standalone abstract.

In legal contexts, especially in Spain and some Latin American jurisdictions, sumario refers to the preliminary phase of a proceeding during which evidence is gathered and the case is organized for trial. The specific procedures and terminology differ by country, but the general idea is a staged, summarized preparation of the case rather than a final judgment.

See also: resumen, resumen ejecutivo, tabla de contenidos, sumário (Portuguese).