Buckayro

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A cowboy, especially one who herds livestock on the open ranges of the American West
2. A ranch hand from the western United States who works with cattle on horseback
3. A horseback herder of cattle on the open range, particularly in the American West

Etymology: Spanish "vaquero," meaning cowboy, came north into English and was reshaped by a word that had nothing to do with cattle. The Spanish term descends from Latin roots meaning cowherd, passing through French and Medieval Latin forms such as "vaccarius." Somewhere along the way English speakers heard its first syllable as "buck," the familiar name for a male deer or antelope and, in slang, a spirited young man. That made the word sound like a lively fellow of the range. The spelling "buckaroo" settled in American English, especially in the western United States, where it named the cowhands of the ranges. Its older spelling, "buckayro," is now obsolete, and the form shows the moment when the Spanish original was still audible in the English spelling before "buck" took over. The "buck" connection is generally considered a folk-influenced reshaping rather than the true source, since the word is really a doublet of the Spanish original.