caracol

English

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ca‧ra‧col

Noun

caracol (plural caracols)

1. Alternative spelling of caracole.

Verb

caracol (third-person singular simple present caracols, present participle caracolling, simple past and past participle caracolled)

1. Alternative spelling of caracole.

Anagrams

• coal car, Larocca, Calarco

Asturian

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from a derivation of Vulgar Latin *cochleār, Latin cochlea (“snail”), from Ancient Greek κοχλίας (kokhlías, “spiral, snail shell”). Compare with cuyar (“spoon”). Alternatively, possibly of pre-Roman Indo-European origin.

Noun

caracol m (plural caracoles)

1. snail (any animal of the class Gastropoda having a shell)

   Synonym: cascoxu

Galician

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from a derivation of Vulgar Latin *cochleār, Latin cochlea (“snail”), from Ancient Greek κοχλίας (kokhlías, “spiral, snail shell”). Compare with culler (“spoon”). Alternatively, possibly of pre-Roman Indo-European origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaɾaˈkɔl/ [kɑ.ɾɑˈkɔɫ]
• Rhymes: -ɔl
• Hyphenation: ca‧ra‧col

Noun

caracol m (plural caracois)

1. snail

   Synonyms: cornacho, cornacha, sesillo, cosco

Further reading

• “caracol”, in gl:Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• “caracol”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2025

Portuguese

caracol

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from a derivation of Vulgar Latin *cochleār, Latin cochlea (“snail”), from Ancient Greek κοχλίας (kokhlías, “spiral, snail shell”). Compare with colher (“spoon”). Alternatively, possibly of pre-Roman substrate origin.

Cognate with Galician, Asturian, and Spanish caracol, Catalan caragol and Occitan caragol, from earlier cagaròl.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.ɾaˈkɔw/ [ka.ɾaˈkɔʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐ.ɾɐˈkɔl/ [kɐ.ɾɐˈkɔɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐ.ɾɐˈkɔl/ [kɐ.ɾɐˈkɔɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐ.ɾɐˈkɔ.li/

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɔl, (Brazil) -ɔw
• Hyphenation: ca‧ra‧col

Noun

caracol m (plural caracóis)

1. snail (any animal of the class Gastropoda having a shell)
2. curl (a lock of curly hair)
3. (anatomy) cochlea (the complex, spirally coiled, tapered cavity of the inner ear)

   Synonym: cóclea

Usage notes

• In Brazil, this term usually refers to terrestrial snails, while caramujo refers to aquatic ones.

See also

• caramujo, lesma, escargô, molusco, gastrópode
• encaracolar, encaracolado

Further reading

• “caracol”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “caracol”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from a derivation of Vulgar Latin *cochleare, from Latin cochlea, from Ancient Greek κοχλίας (kokhlías, “spiral, snail shell”). See also cuchara. Alternatively, possibly of pre-Roman substrate origin.

Cognate with Portuguese caracol, Galician caracol, Asturian caracol, and Occitan caragol, from earlier cagarol.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaɾaˈkol/ [ka.ɾaˈkol]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ol
• Syllabification: ca‧ra‧col

Noun

caracol m (plural caracoles)

1. snail
2. (anatomy) cochlea

   Synonym: cóclea

Derived terms

• caracol de Borgoña
• escalera de caracol

Descendants

• → Italian: caracollo

Further reading

• “caracol”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024