bacalao

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish bacalao.

Noun

bacalao (uncountable)

1. Alternative spelling of bacalhau
   • 2003 September 5, A. LaBan, “Rooms With a View”, in Chicago Reader‎^[1]:

     House specialties also include a spicy, salty bacalao, pollack stew in a red or white sauce […] .

Spanish

Alternative forms

• bacallao
• bacalado (nonstandard, hypercorrect)

Etymology

From Dutch bakaliaw, Old Dutch bakeljauw, kabeljauw, of uncertain origin. Possibly from Latin baculum (“stick, staff”), referring to the way cod were split and dried on wooden sticks. Or, possibly borrowed or influenced by Basque bakailao, which could be related to the Dutch word.

Cognate with Italian baccalà, Portuguese bacalhau, Galician bacallau, Catalan bacallà.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bakaˈlao/ [ba.kaˈla.o]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ao
• Syllabification: ba‧ca‧la‧o

Noun

bacalao m (plural bacalaos)

1. cod
2. dried and salted cod

Derived terms

• aceite de hígado de bacalao
• bacalada
• cortar el bacalao
• te conozco, bacalao, aunque vengas disfrazado

 

References

• Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN

Further reading

• “bacalao”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28