Riata

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈɑːtə/

Definitions

1. A rope made from braided rawhide used traditionally for lassoing cattle or horses
2. A flexible rope crafted from rawhide employed in rounding up or controlling livestock
3. A type of lariat made of rawhide strips, commonly used as a tool to catch and restrain animals

Etymology: Spanish "reata" comes from "reatar," meaning "to retie," which is built from "re-" (again) and "atar" (to tie). The sense is a little hard to picture until you see the gear it describes: a rope made of braided rawhide, long enough to be knotted and retied into a loop for roping cattle or horses. The name points to the rope's purpose, the repeated tying and untying of a noose as a working vaquero handled it. English borrowed the word from Spanish in the American Southwest, where Spanish-speaking ranchers had developed the technique and the equipment. It sits alongside "lariat," which comes from the same Spanish family of terms, so the two are close relatives that entered English by different routes and took on slightly different shades of meaning. "Riata" keeps the Spanish spelling and the Spanish stress pattern, which is why it looks foreign on the page even though it is an everyday cowboy term in the United States.

Synonyms: lasso, rope, cord