alcaucil

Spanish

Common names for artichoke is the Spanish-speaking world

Alternative forms

• alcacil, arcacil (rare)

Etymology

From Andalusian Arabic الْقَبْسِيل (al-qabsīl), from a Medieval Latin form *capicella for capitia, from Latin caput (“head”). Doublet of jefe and cabo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alkauˈθil/ [al.kau̯ˈθil] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /alkauˈsil/ [al.kau̯ˈsil] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -il
• Syllabification: al‧cau‧cil

Noun

alcaucil m (plural alcauciles)

1. (Rioplatense, Andalusia, Extremadura) artichoke (vegetable)

   Synonym: alcachofa f

2. (Rioplatense, colloquial) dolt

References

• Corriente, Federico (2008), “alcaucil”, in Dictionary of Arabic and Allied Loanwords. Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Galician and Kindred Dialects (Handbook of Oriental Studies; 97), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 81

Further reading

• “alcaucil”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025