careta

See also: caréta, caretă, and caretã

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [kəˈɾe̞.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [kəˈɾə.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Central) [kəˈɾɛ.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [kaˈɾe.ta]

Etymology 1

From cara +‎ -eta.

Noun

careta f (plural caretes)

1. mask

   Synonyms: màsquera, màscara

Derived terms

• careta antigàs

Etymology 2

From the taxonomic name Caretta.

Noun

careta f (plural caretes)

1. loggerhead turtle

   Synonyms: tortuga babaua, tortuga careta

Further reading

• “careta”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “careta”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “careta” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “careta”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Portuguese cara

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Italic *-tosder.?

Latin -ittus

Old French -ete

Middle French -ettebor.

Old Galician-Portuguese -eta

▲

Italian -ettainflu.

▲

French -etteinflu.

Portuguese -eta

Portuguese careta

From cara + -eta.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaˈɾe.tɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaˈɾe.tɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaˈɾe.ta/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐˈɾe.tɐ/

• Rhymes: -etɐ
• Hyphenation: ca‧re‧ta

Noun

careta f (plural caretas)

1. grimace, smirk; face
2. mask

   Synonym: máscara

Derived terms

• careto

Descendants

• Macanese: caréta

Noun

careta m or f by sense (plural caretas)

1. (Brazil, slang) square (socially conventional person)

Adjective

careta m or f (plural caretas)(Brazil, slang)

1. straightedge (avoiding drugs)
2. square (not up-to-date with trends)

   Synonym: quadrado

Further reading

• “careta”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “careta”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Spanish cara

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Italic *-tosder.?

Late Latin -ittus

Old French -et

Middle French -et

French -etbor.

Spanish -eta

Spanish careta

From cara (“face”) + -eta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈɾeta/ [kaˈɾe.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -eta
• Syllabification: ca‧re‧ta

Noun

careta f (plural caretas)

1. face mask, face screen (disguise, fencing, medical protection, etc.)
2. (figurative) any means of occlusion
3. (cooking) pork cheek (careta de cerdo)

Adjective

careta f

1. feminine singular of careto

Further reading

• “careto”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025