Corral

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /kəˈɹæl/

Definitions

1. A confined space used for collecting and containing animals like cattle and horses
2. An enclosure designed for keeping livestock safely contained ; to gather animals or people into a confined area for control or management
3. A fenced area where domestic animals such as cattle or horses are held temporarily ; to round up and restrict movement of animals or groups using barriers or force

Etymology: The Spanish "corral" originally meant a farmyard or enclosure for livestock, and it has an unexpected cousin in southern Africa. "Kraal," the Afrikaans and Dutch word for an enclosure for cattle or a village of huts arranged around one, is a doublet of "corral": both descend from the same root, but they reached their present forms by different routes. The Spanish word traveled to English directly and kept its meaning of a pen for animals, while the Dutch-speaking settlers of southern Africa picked up a related form and applied it to the cattle enclosures they found and built there. English speakers borrowed "corral" from Spanish, and its earliest senses stayed close to the original idea of a stockade for livestock. Over time the verb grew from that base. To corral someone now means to herd people into a confined space or bring them under control, so a word once tied to cattle pens became a general term for containing anything, including crowds.

Synonyms: pen, enclosure, paddock, yard, fold