buckaroo
UK /ˌbʌkəˈɹuː/ · US /ˌbʌkəˈɹu/ noun, proper noun
Forms buckaroos buckayro buckeroo
- noun (also attributive) A cowboy; specifically, a working cowboy who generally does not participate in rodeos.
- noun One who adopts a distinctive style of cowboy attire and heritage. “Many cowboy poets have a buckaroo look and feel about them.”
- noun A style of cowboy boot with a high heel tapered at the back.
- noun (Western US, figurative) A headstrong, reckless person; a hothead. “Don’t run in looking for a fight like some kind of buckaroo.”
- noun (US, slang) Synonym of buck (“a dollar”). “That’ll be twenty buckaroos, buddy.”
- proper noun A locality in the Mid-Western council area, eastern New South Wales, Australia.
Synonyms
Etymology
Modified from Spanish vaquero (“cowboy”), with the spelling influenced by buck (“(noun) male antelope, deer, etc.; adventurous or high-spirited young man; (verb) of a horse, etc.: to leap upward arching its back, coming down with head low and forelegs stiff, forcefully kicking its hind legs upward”). Doublet of vaquero.
* Early Medieval Latin vaccārius (“cowherd”)
* Late Latin baccalārius (“landless serf; cowherd (?)”) (Merovingian)
Probably a fanciful elaboration of buck, influenced by buckaroo (etymology 1).
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “buckaroo”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details