Banderillero

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌbændəɹiːˈjeəɹəʊ/

Definitions

1. A skilled individual who inserts decorated sticks known as banderillas into a bull's neck in the context of bullfighting
2. An expert performer engaged in the traditional act of placing barbed sticks on a bull during a bullfighting event
3. A person who skillfully throws decorated, barbed sticks into a bull as part of a bullfight

Etymology: The word arrived in English straight from Spanish, where "banderillero" names the bullfighter who plants the banderillas, the decorated barbed sticks pushed into the bull's neck and shoulders during the faena's early stages. The Spanish term is built on "bandera," meaning "flag" or "banner," since the sticks are fitted with small coloured paper ribbons that flutter as the bull charges. The English usage stays closely tied to the Spanish bullring, so the word carries its original context almost unchanged. The "-ero" ending is the Spanish suffix that turns a noun into a person who deals with that noun, so a banderillero is literally someone who works with flags. Here the flags are small darts, which makes the English gloss "bullfight stick thrower" a fair description of the job. Because the sport and its vocabulary were largely adopted in English as a foreign specialist term, the word shows little change from its source.