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vaquero

va·que·ro [ vaa kérrō ] (plural va·que·ros)


noun 
Definition:
 
Hispanic 
Same as  cowboy (sense 1)


[Early 19th century. < Spanish< vaca "cow"]

Regional History

Vaquero is primarily a Texas word, where it contrasts in social usage with two other terms, the Anglicized buckaroo and the Mexican-Spanish loan charro (in Spain this meant "a rude, tasteless farm laborer," but in Mexico it referred to "a landowner who employed vaqueros"). In Texas, vaquero applies mainly to a working cowboy, especially a bachelor, buckaroo to a married working cowboy, and charro to an ostentatiously dressed pretender, a dude.

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