Calavera

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A decorative representation of a skull in Mexican traditions that signifies both mortality and the vibrancy of life while often featuring intricate designs
2. An artistic skull, commonly seen in Day of the Dead festivities, symbolizing the duality of death and life in a colorful manner
3. A traditional representation of a skull in Mexican culture that highlights the celebration of life and death through elaborate artistic embellishments

Etymology: Long before it named a sugar skull, "calavera" meant simply "skull" in Spanish, a word that English has borrowed in its Mexican Spanish form. The Spanish word traces back through Latin to "calvaria," the bony top of the skull, which is also the root of the English word "calvary," the hill of the Crucifixion, named for the skull-like shape of the place. That makes "calavera" a doublet of both "calvaria" and "calvary," three forms of one Latin ancestor that took separate paths into different languages and meanings. In Mexico the word now refers to the painted skulls and skeleton figures made for the Day of the Dead, from candy and papier-mâché to elaborate figurines. The word also gave rise to "La Calavera Catrina," a satirical engraving by the artist José Guadalupe Posada, and the skeletal dandy in that print became a central image of the holiday.