vaquero

vaquero

See also: Vaquero

English

Etymology

From Spanish vaquero (“cowherd”), from vaca (“cow”). Doublet of buckaroo.

Noun

vaquero (plural vaqueros or vaqueroes)

1. (Southwestern US) A cowboy; a herdsman.
   • 1925, Quarterly of the Society of California Pioneers, page 232,

     A day or two before a number of vaqueroes set out for the Santa Cruz Mountains and lassoed a very big grizzly.

   • 1997, Jane Clements Monday, Betty Bailey Colley, Voices from the Wild Horse Desert: The Vaquero Families of the King and Kenedy Ranches, University of Texas Press, page ix,

     Voices from the Wild Horse Desert is the story of vaquero families who have lived and worked on the prominent King and Kenedy Ranches of South Texas for six generations. Vaqueros (Mexican cowboys) are the highly skilled work force that cares for and works the cattle day by day.

   • 2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster 2014, p. 11:

     Of course the vaqueros do not help: because of his weight and his high voice they call him Don Castrado behind his back.

   • 2015, Danilo H. Figueredo, Revolvers and Pistolas, Vaqueros and Caballeros: Debunking the Old West, ABC-CLIO (Praeger), page 50,

     Cattle drives became common between Mexico and California and Mexico and Texas. Vaqueros were the drivers. In time, as vaqueros worked for a particular ranch or within the confines of a particular territory, regional styles evolved. In essence, two types were prominent: that of the California vaquero and that of the vaquero from Texas.

     The Texas vaquero was identified as a free spirit, lived out in the open range, and went from ranch to ranch as work opportunities surfaced. The Californian vaquero remained loyal to a ranch or ranching family.

See also

• caballero
• charro

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Spanish

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *vaccārius (“cowherder, rancher”); equivalent to vaca (“cow”) +‎ -ero. Compare Portuguese vaqueiro, Catalan vaquer, French vacher, Italian vaccaio, Romanian văcar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baˈkeɾo/ [baˈke.ɾo]

• Audio (Colombia)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɾo
• Syllabification: va‧que‧ro

Adjective

vaquero (feminine vaquera, masculine plural vaqueros, feminine plural vaqueras)

1. cowboy

Noun

vaquero m (plural vaqueros)

1. cowboy

   Coordinate terms: charro, gaucho

2. (in the plural) jeans

   Synonyms: tejanos, pantalones vaqueros, pantalón vaquero

   vestidos con vaqueros ― dressed in jeans

3. a kind of bird:
   1. squirrel cuckoo (Piaya cayana)

      Synonyms: aguatudo, cuapaxcle, cuco ardilla, cuco ardilla común, chicura, chile ancho, guaco, pájaro bobo, piscoy, ticuyo colorado

   2. laughing falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans)

      Synonyms: guace, guaco, guaco vaquero, guaicurú, halcón guaco, halcón reidor, halcón risueño, halieto, llamanorte, pájaro caballero, pájaro vaquero, valdivia

   3. lesser ground cuckoo (Morococcyx erythropygus)

      Synonyms: correcamino, cuclillo chiflador, cuclillo sabanero, cuclillo terrestre, cuco bobo, escatuto, faisán, gallina boba, gallina ciega, paisano

Derived terms

• guaco vaquero
• pájaro vaquero
• pantalón vaquero, pantalones vaqueros
• vaquero grande
• vaquero ojirrojo

Descendants

• → English: buckaroo, buckeroo

References

• Schoenhals, Louise C. (1988) A Spanish - English Glossary of Mexican Flora and Fauna‎, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, page 487

Further reading

• “vaquero”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014