bonito

See also: Bonito

English

Sarda sarda, an example of a bonito

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish bonito.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːtəʊ

Noun

bonito (plural bonito or bonitos or bonitoes)

1. Any of various marine fish of the genus Sarda that are related to and resemble the tuna, but smaller. [from 16th c.]
   • 1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 165:

     Mr Scott, the chief mate, being a capital fisherman, the table was almost daily furnished with an albacore, bonito, or dolphin, and not unfrequently with all three, which he struck with a gig.

2. A large tropical fish of species Katsuwonus pelamis (skipjack tuna), allied to the tunny.
   • 2022 October 19, J. Kenji López-Alt, “What Kenji López-Alt Makes His Family for Dinner”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     Making dashi is simple once you have katsuobushi (shaved, dried bonito flakes) and kombu (sea kelp), which have become increasingly easy to find across the United States. (You can also order them online.)

3. The medregal (Seriola fasciata), an edible fish of the southern United States and the West Indies.
4. The cobia or crab eater (Rachycentron canadum), an edible fish of warm waters globally.

Derived terms

• Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda)
• Australian bonito (Sarda australis)
• eastern Pacific bonito (Sarda chiliensis chiliensis)
• large bonito (Katsuwonus pelamis)
• leaping bonito (Cybiosarda elegans)
• Pacific bonito (Sarda chiliensis lineolata)
• plain bonito (Orcynopsis unicolor)
• striped bonito (Sarda orientalis)

Translations

fish of Sarda

• Bulgarian: паламуд (bg) m (palamud)
• Catalan: bonítol (ca) m
• Czech: pelamida f
• Finnish: sarda (fi)
• Galician: bonito (gl) m
• German: Bonito m
• Greek: παλαμίδα (el) f (palamída)

  Ancient Greek: ἀμία m (amía)

• Indonesian: bonito
• Italian: palamita f
• Japanese: 鰹 (ja), カツオ (ja) (かつお, katsuo) (commonly written in katakana or kanji)
• Romanian: bonită f, pălămidă (ro) f
• Spanish: bonito (es)
• Turkish: torik (tr), palamut (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: پالامود (palamud), پچوطه (peçuta)

Katsuwonus pelamis — see skipjack tuna

See also

• skipjack
• tunny

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /boˈnito/ [boˈni.t̪ʊ]
• Rhymes: -ito

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish bonito (“pretty, cute”), a diminutive of bueno, from Latin bonus (“good”).

Adjective

bonito (feminine bonita, masculine plural bonitos, feminine plural bonitas)

1. pretty, lovely

   Synonyms: belo, fermoso, feito, guapo

   Antonym: feo

Derived terms

• bonitiño
• bonitísimo

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish bonito.

Noun

bonito m (plural bonitos)

1. bonito; tuna

   Synonym: atún

Further reading

• “bonito”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “bonito”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

Polish

bonito

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔˈɲi.tɔ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -itɔ
• Syllabification: bo‧ni‧to
• Homophone: Bonito

Noun

bonito n (indeclinable)

1. bonito, skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis)

   Synonyms: bonito latający, bonito paskowany, tunek pasiasty, tuńczyk pasiasty, tuńczyk skoczek

Further reading

• bonito in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /buˈni.tu/, /boˈni.tu/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /buˈni.tu/, /boˈni.tu/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /boˈni.to/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /buˈni.tu/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -itu
• Hyphenation: bo‧ni‧to

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish bonito (“pretty, lovely”), a diminutive of bueno (“good”), from Latin bonus (“good”).

Adjective

bonito (feminine bonita, masculine plural bonitos, feminine plural bonitas, comparable, comparative mais bonito, superlative o mais bonito or bonitíssimo, diminutive bonitinho, augmentative bonitão)

1. pretty, lovely

   Synonyms: belo, formoso

   Antonym: feio

Inflection

Forms of bonito

	singular		plural
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
positive	bonito	bonita	bonitos	bonitas
comparative	mais bonito	mais bonita	mais bonitos	mais bonitas
superlative	bonitíssimo	bonitíssima	bonitíssimos	bonitíssimas
augmentative	bonitão	bonitona	bonitões	bonitonas
diminutive	bonitinho	bonitinha	bonitinhos	bonitinhas

Related terms

• bom
• bonzinho

Adverb

bonito (comparable, comparative mais bonito, superlative o mais bonito)

1. (Brazil) beautifully, in a beautiful way

   Ela canta bonito ― She sings beautifully

Descendants

• Kabuverdianu: bunitu

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish bonito.

Noun

bonito m (plural bonitos)

1. various species of fish related to or sharing resemblance with the tuna, such as the albacore and the frigate tuna

Further reading

• “bonito”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “bonito”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), São Paulo: 7Graus, 2009–2026
• “bonito”, in Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisboa: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, 2001–2026
• “bonito”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “bonito”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “bonito”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /boˈnito/ [boˈni.t̪o]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ito
• Syllabification: bo‧ni‧to

Etymology 1

From bueno +‎ -ito.

Adjective

bonito (feminine bonita, masculine plural bonitos, feminine plural bonitas)

1. pretty, cute
2. nice, lovely, sweet, fine, charming, great

   bonito jugador ― nice player

   • 2023 March 27, Jackie Wattles, “Esta impresionante alineación de 5 planetas será visible esta semana: ¿cómo verla?”, in CNN en Español‎^[3]:

     “Es como cuando el cuentakilómetros de tu coche llega a 44.444”, dijo. “Es bonito e inusual. Pero en realidad no significa nada”.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• bonitísimo
• niña bonita

See also

• bello
• chulo
• guapo
• hermoso
• lindo
• precioso

Etymology 2

From Arabic بِينِيث (bīnīṯ, “bonito”). Other sources prefer a derivation from bonito (“pretty”, literally “the good one”), referring to the fish's appearance (see Etymology 1 above), despite the existence of a similar Medieval Latin form boniton, but this could be a simple coincidence or convenient availability bias.

Noun

bonito m (plural bonitos)

2. (zoology) tuna; bonito

   Synonyms: biza, bonítalo

3. (zoology) skipjack

Further reading

• “bonito”, 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

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• bunito

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish bonito.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /boˈnito/ [boˈn̪iː.t̪o]
• Rhymes: -ito
• Syllabification: bo‧ni‧to

Noun

bonito (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜈᜒᜆᜓ)

1. yellowfin tuna

   Synonym: tulingan

See also

• albakora
• katsot

Further reading

• “bonito”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• “bunito”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018