calavera

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Mexican Spanish calavera (literally “skull”). Doublet of calvaria and calvary.

Noun

calavera (plural calaveras)

1. sugar skull

Anagrams

• Caravela

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin calvāria.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [kə.ləˈβe.ɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [kə.ləˈve.ɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ka.laˈve.ɾa]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

calavera f (plural calaveres)

1. (of a person) skull

Hypernyms

• crani

Noun

calavera m (plural calaveres)

1. libertine, playboy
   • 2004, Fany Tur Riera, “6 de maig de 1838. Assassinat a ses Feixes" in Eivissa”, in Institut d'Estudis Eivissencs, number 41, page 38:

     Tenia fama d'haver estat un calavera de fadrí.

     He had the reputation of having been a libertine bachelor.

Derived terms

• calaverada

Further reading

• “calavera”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kl̥H-der.

Proto-Italic *kalVwos

Latin calvus

Latin -ārius

Latin -āria

Latin calvāria

Old Spanish calavera

Spanish calavera

Inherited from Old Spanish, from Latin calvāria, derived from Latin calvus (“bald”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kalaˈbeɾa/ [ka.laˈβ̞e.ɾa]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɾa
• Syllabification: ca‧la‧ve‧ra

Noun

calavera f (plural calaveras)

1. skull

   Synonym: cráneo

2. death's-head hawkmoth (moth of the Acherontia genus)
3. (Mexico) taillight

   Synonym: luz trasera

Derived terms

• descalabrar
• planta calavera

Noun

calavera m (plural calaveras)

1. (also relational) libertine, playboy, party animal

Further reading

• “calavera”, 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