Etymology

buckaroo

buck·a·roo
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Today it means: A cowboy; specifically, a working cowboy who generally does not participate in rodeos. Full definition →

Spanish vaquero
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buckaroo · noun1

  1. Spanish · derived fromvaquero“cowboy”
  2. English todaybuckaroo

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. cognates * Early Medieval Latin vaccārius (“cowherd”) * French vacher * Late Latin baccalārius (“landless serf; cowherd (?)”) (Merovingian)

buckaroo · noun2

Probably a fanciful elaboration of buck, influenced by buckaroo (etymology 1).

Words from the same roots

Spanishvaquero all →

vaquero

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.