corral

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish corral (“an enclosed place, yard, courtyard, pen, poultry yard”),^[2][3][4] with Portuguese curral (Old Portuguese corral).^[5][6][7] The further origin of the Spanish word is disputed.^[8] Merriam-Webster, the American Heritage Dictionary and Collins derive it from Vulgar Latin *currāle (“enclosure for carts or vehicles”),^[4][9][10] which Barnhart and Etymonline give only as a possibility;^[11][3] it would be formed on Latin currus (“chariot, cart, wagon”), from currō (“to run”),^[4][11][8] from Proto-Indo-European *kers- (“to run”).^[3][9] Klein, Partridge, Skeat and Weekley derive it instead from corro (“ring”), from correr (“to run”);^{[12][13][14][15]} Skeat and Weekley connect it with the Spanish phrase for holding a bullfight, literally "to run bulls".^[14][15] Etymonline and Ayto mention a proposed African origin.^[3][8] The Portuguese form is the source of kraal, through Afrikaans.^[8][13][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

An enclosure or pen for horses or cattle: 1582, in N. Lichefield's translation of F. L. de Castanheda,^[2] where it is used as a Spanish term for an enclosed yard or pen.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The word became chiefly a word of Spanish America and the United States.^[2][6] In the American West it was also used for the ring of wagons that emigrants crossing the plains drew up at night for defence: the noun in this sense is recorded from 1847, in Ruxton,^[2][3] and the verb "to form wagons into a corral" from 1846.^[2] The verb meaning to drive animals into a corral, or to shut up as in a corral, is recorded from 1847,^{[2][11][4][3]} and the colloquial American sense "to seize, capture, collar" from 1860 in the OED and Barnhart;^[2][11] Green's Dictionary of Slang has it from 1859, in the California Police Gazette.^[16] Today it is also used informally of getting hold of something or gathering people up.^[4][10] In South and South-east Asia a corral was an enclosure for capturing or keeping elephants, from 1785.^[2]

Timeline

• 1582 – an enclosure or pen for horses or cattle.^[2][11]
• 1785 – in South and South-east Asia, an enclosure for capturing elephants.^[2]
• 1846 – verb, to form wagons into a corral.^[2]
• 1847 – a defensive ring of wagons; verb, to drive into or shut up in a corral.^[2][11][3]
• 1859 – verb, to seize or capture someone.^[16] The OED and Barnhart date this sense to 1860.^[2][11]
• 1971 – in American slang, the group of prostitutes working for one pimp.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pen or enclosure for keeping or catching livestock, especially horses or cattle (chiefly North American).^[10][4][2]
2. An enclosure resembling a corral, as one in which people are held back: The fans waited in a roped-off corral by the gate.^[4]
3. A defensive circle of wagons around an encampment (historical).^[10][4][2]
4. An enclosure for trapping wild animals.^[6][2]

Verb

1. To drive animals into a corral, or to shut up in one.^[10][4][2]
2. To draw up wagons in a circle to form a corral.^[4][2]
3. (informal) To gather up, round up or get control of people or things; to capture or collar someone: She corralled the children into the car.^[10][4][2]

Related words

• kraal
• current
• course
• corridor
• courier
• car

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
13. ^ a b Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
14. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
15. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
16. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com