verraco

Spanish

FWOTD – 15 April 2015

Etymology

From a derivative of Latin verres. Compare Romance cognates with varying suffixes: Portuguese barrão, Asturian bracu, French verrat, etc.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /beˈrako/

Noun

verraco m (plural verracos)

  1. a male, uncastrated adult pig
    • 2001, Javier Ocampo López, Mitos y leyendas de Antioquia la Grande, Plaza & Janés, page 113:
      El verraco de Guaca es un macho porcino reproductor que aparece en los campos antioqueños con espíritu infernal; []
      The boar of Guaca is a male reproducing pig that appears in the fields of Antioquia as an infernal spirit; []
  2. (archaeology) a stone sculpture of a pig or other quadruped created by the pre-Roman inhabitants of Iberia, especially the Vettones
    • 2003, Jesús Rafael Álvarez-Sanchís, Los vettones, Real Academia de la Historia, page 309:
      [] , siendo Balarus uno de los nombres que aparece en la inscripción funeraria de un verraco abulense
      [] , Balarus being one of the names that appears in the funerary inscription of a verraco from Ávila.
  3. (Americas) a foolish, slovenly or misbehaving person
    • 2013, Silvio Hernando Torres Zuniga, Los Hijos Del Brujo, LibrosEnRed, page 490:
      Les cuento que este muchacho es un verraco; porque llegar aquí sin ninguna dirección, ni dinero y, para completar, sin saber leer ni escribir. Este muchacho es un verraco.
      I’m telling you that this guy is a fool; because he arrived here without any directions, nor money and, what’s more, not knowing how to read or write. This guy is a fool.

Further reading

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