How to Say "Ice" in Portuguese

gelo

/ˈʒe.lu/masculine

The Portuguese word for ice is gelo.

gelo refers to water in its frozen form.

Meaning: water in frozen form (noun)

Is it said differently in some regions?

In Portugal, the term cubo de gelo is commonly used to refer to ice cubes.

gelo is a masculine noun. It requires masculine articles and adjectives, such as o gelo (the ice) or gelo frio (cold ice).

The word has two syllables, with the stress on the first syllable: /ˈʒe.lu/.

In some Brazilian regional slangs, gelo can be used as a verb meaning to ignore someone completely, similar to the English 'to give someone the cold shoulder'.
In Brazil, a gelada is a common slang term for a very cold beer, using the feminine adjective form of gelo as a noun.
While gelo refers to the substance, a 'geladinho' or 'sacolé' is a popular street snack made of frozen juice in a small plastic bag.

O gelo é frio.
Ice is cool.
This sentence illustrates how to use gelo with a predicate adjective.
Tatoeba #5448995 by ToinhoAlam, translation #4996958 by Hybrid
O gelo está frio?
Is the ice cold?
This sentence shows how to ask a question regarding the temperature of the gelo.
Tatoeba #3434026 by piterkeo, translation #3430211 by MTC
Você anda no gelo.
You walk on the ice.
This sentence demonstrates the prepositional use of gelo when walking on a surface.
Tatoeba #4675558 by carlosalberto, translation #1098104 by cntrational
Por favor, poderia me trazer um pouco de gelo para o suco?
Could you please bring me some ice for the juice?
Você pode pegar uns gelinhos para colocar na minha bebida?
Can you grab a few ice cubes for my drink?
Por favor, pode trazer-me alguns cubos de gelo para o copo?
Could you please bring me some ice cubes for the glass?
148 more sentences on Tatoeba

A person and a friend are preparing drinks at home.

Sources

Wiktionary, “ice” translations and entries gelo, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.

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