Jump to:

• barbacoa
  barbacoa

  noun

  a style of cooking meat by applying low heat for a long time, especially over an open fire or in a below-ground pit: the meat is often served shredded or chopped, with tortillas, in burritos, etc.
• Barbacoa
  Barbacoa

  noun

  an Indigenous people of Ecuador and Colombia.

barbacoa

¹ American  

[bahr-buh-koh-uh] / ˌbɑr bəˈkoʊ ə /

noun

Mexican Cooking.

1. a style of cooking meat by applying low heat for a long time, especially over an open fire or in a below-ground pit: the meat is often served shredded or chopped, with tortillas, in burritos, etc.

2. meat that has been cooked slowly on low heat, especially over an open fire or in a below-ground pit.

---

Barbacoa ² American  

[bahr-buh-koh-uh] / ˌbɑr bəˈkoʊ ə /

noun

plural

Barbacoas,

plural

Barbacoa

1. an Indigenous people of Ecuador and Colombia.

2. the language of the Barbacoa.

---

Other Word Forms

• Barbacoan
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of barbacoa¹

First recorded in 1945–50; from Spanish; see barbecue ( def. )

Origin of Barbacoa²

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

The goat barbacoa tacos are served every Friday and Saturday starting at 11 a.m.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 28, 2024

Also a block away from the theater is Aqui Es Texcoco, known for its lamb barbacoa, which even drew the late Times food critic Jonathan Gold two hours south along the 5 Freeway.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 31, 2023

“Barbecue” comes from barbacoa, a word in the Arawakan language of the Caribbean for a wooden frame used for sleeping on and for drying food, Tschann writes.

From New York Times • Mar. 7, 2023

Think: the chunky beef stew that is carne guisada or barbacoa or a bone-in pork chop.

From Washington Post • Jan. 20, 2022

By nightfall the barbacoa would be finished, and we would eat some, then salt the rest and put it away in an ajoupa, together with the hides.

From Caribbee by Hoover, Thomas