vaquero

Forms

vaquero m (plural vaqueros)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish vaca + -ero.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary instead takes it from Medieval Latin vaccārius, a derivative of Latin vacca (“cow”) recorded in the Pactus Alamannorum.^[1] The REW lists the Spanish word among the Romance words for a cowherd formed on the Latin noun, with Portuguese vaqueiro, Catalan vaquer, Occitan vaquièr, French vacher and Italian vaccaio.^[5]

vaca is first recorded as Old Spanish baca in a charter of 931.^[6] De Vaan rejects the old comparison of the Latin noun with a Sanskrit word for “cow”, because Latin would need a different vowel grade, and mentions an onomatopoeic origin as possible.^[7] Etymonline calls the Latin word of uncertain origin.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DHLE dates the sense “person who looks after cattle” from 1246.^[3] Corominas's first record is Juan Ruiz's Libro de buen amor, and he dates the word to 1335.^[6][9] The Fuero general de Navarra, in a manuscript of the first half of the 14th century, also has it.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Nebrija gave Latin bubulcus and armentarius as its equivalents.^[11] Covarrubias in 1611 also used it of a long-skirted coat like those cowherds wore, the sayo vaquero.^[12][13] The Academy's dictionary of 1817 added a close-fitting gown worn by women and children and the proverb ayer vaquero y hoy caballero, on the changes of fortune.^[14] Cervantes used it in 1613 for a knife used to slaughter cattle.^[3]

In the Americas it is recorded from 1521 in Puerto Rico.^[15] The DHLE dates the sense “cowboy who tends cattle on the open range or a ranch, usually on horseback” from 1881, and vaqueros “jeans” from 1962.^[3] Regional senses include a cut of beef from between the hide and the ribs in Argentina and Paraguay, a whip in Venezuela, the laughing falcon in Mexico, and a pupil who plays truant in Peru.^[3][16][17] American English borrowed it as bakhara (1827) and buckayro (1889), later buckaroo (1907), with the spelling altered by buck.^[8]

Timeline

• 1246 – first record of the sense “cowherd”.^[3]
• 1335 – Juan Ruiz uses it in the Libro de buen amor.^[6][9]
• 1513 – Nebrija gives Latin bubulcus.^[11]
• 1521 – first record from the Americas, in Puerto Rico.^[15]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records the sayo vaquero, a long-skirted coat.^[12]
• 1613 – Cervantes uses it of a slaughterer's knife.^[3]
• 1827 – first form of the English borrowing, bakhara.^[8]
• 1881 – first record of the sense “cowboy” on the open range or a ranch.^[3]
• 1962 – vaqueros “jeans” first recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or belonging to cowherds: unas botas vaqueras.^[2][18]
2. Of a strong cotton cloth, usually blue, like that of the clothes of the cowboys of the American West; denim.^[2]
3. Made of this cloth: una chaqueta vaquera.^[2]

Noun

1. A cowherd or cowboy; a person who tends cattle.^[2][1]
2. (usually in the plural) jeans.^[2][1]
3. (Paraguay) matambre, a stuffed and rolled cold meat.^[2][16]
4. (feminine, Ecuador) A milking machine.^[2]
5. (feminine, Venezuela) A shed or pen where cattle are kept in winter.^[2]

Word family

• pantalón vaquero

Related words

• vaca
• vaquería
• vaquerizo
• Latin vaccarius
• Portuguese vaqueiro
• English buckaroo

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. vaquero
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Real Academia Española (2013–), Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (DHLE), https://www.rae.es/dhle, p. s.v. vaquero
4. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9109
6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 727
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vaca
10. ^ Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org, p. s.v. vaquero
11. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 428
12. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1370
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 420
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 877
15. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. vaquero
16. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. vaquero
17. ^ Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 809
18. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vaquero