Skip to content

presidiario

prisoner

noun preh-see-DYAH-ryoh Rare

Origin: From Latin praesidium (garrison, guard post).

Also means

convict

Usage Note

Presidiario refers to a person serving a prison sentence, with a stronger connotation of long-term or hard-labor imprisonment than the more neutral preso or recluso. The feminine is presidiaria. The root presidio originally meant a military garrison before shifting to mean penitentiary.

Examples

"El presidiario fue liberado tras cumplir su condena."

Natural Translation

The prisoner was released after serving his sentence.

Free starter pack

Building your Spanish vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common Spanish words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore Spanish by topic