caballero

See also: Caballero

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Celtic *kaballosder.?

Latin caballus

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzios

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -ārius

Late Latin caballārius

Old Spanish cavallero

Spanish caballerobor.

English caballero

Borrowed from Spanish caballero. Doublet of cavalier and chevalier.

Noun

caballero (plural caballeros or caballeroes)

1. A horseman, particularly in the Latin American context
   • 2007 January 26, Roberta Smith, “Outside In”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Here we usually find the caballero aiming his pistol in one direction while pointing his reined-in steed in another, as if ready to wheel and dash to safety.

2. A Spanish gentleman.
3. A Spanish line dance.

Spanish

Etymology

From Old Spanish cavallero, inherited from Late Latin caballārius, from Latin caballus. Equivalent to caballo +‎ -ero. Cognate with English cavalier.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kabaˈʝeɾo/ [ka.β̞aˈʝe.ɾo]

• IPA^(key): /kabaˈʝeɾo/ [ka.β̞aˈʝe.ɾo] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /kabaˈʎeɾo/ [ka.β̞aˈʎe.ɾo] (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /kabaˈʃeɾo/ [ka.β̞aˈʃe.ɾo] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /kabaˈʒeɾo/ [ka.β̞aˈʒe.ɾo] (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /kabaˈeɾo/ [ka.β̞aˈe.ɾo] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɾo
• Syllabification: ca‧ba‧lle‧ro

Noun

caballero m (plural caballeros, feminine caballera, feminine plural caballeras)

1. horseman

   Synonym: jinete

2. knight; cavalier
3. gentleman

   Synonym: señor

4. (especially South America) cowboy

   Synonyms: vaquero, (Argentina) gaucho, (Mexico) charro, (Chile) huaso

Derived terms

• caballería
• caballeriza
• Caballero
• caballero andante
• caballero de alarde
• caballero de conquista
• caballero de cuantía
• caballero de fortuna
• caballero de mohatra
• caballero de premia
• caballero de trinchera
• caballero del hábito
• caballero en plaza
• caballero gran cruz
• caballero nomás
• caballeros templarios
• damas y caballeros
• espuela de caballero
• poderoso caballero es don dinero

Descendants

• → Classical Nahuatl: cauallero
• → Portuguese: cavalheiro
• → Tagalog: kabalyero

See also

• dama

Further reading

• “caballero”, 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
• “caballero”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010