Belittle



The verb belittle, according to Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary, means to describe (someone or something) as little or unimportant. In Portuguese, it means "depreciar" or "fazer pouco caso".

This word was created by the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, as you can read in this article: http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/a-23-2009-01-30-voa4-83143542.html?renderforprint=1.