barrio
Americannoun
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(in Spain and countries colonized by Spain) one of the divisions into which a town or city, together with the contiguous rural territory, is divided.
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a part of a large U.S. city, especially a crowded inner-city area, inhabited chiefly by a Spanish-speaking population.
noun
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a Spanish-speaking quarter in a town or city, esp in the US
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a Spanish-speaking community
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of barrio
First recorded in 1890–95; from Spanish: literally, “district, neighborhood,” from Arabic barrī “of open country” (equivalent to barr “outside, open country” + -i adjective suffix) + -o Spanish noun suffix
Explanation
In the U.S., a barrio is the neighborhood where most people speak Spanish. For example, in New York, Spanish Harlem is also called El Barrio. Outside the U.S., barrio refers to a district in Spain or a Spanish-speaking country. The word barrio means "neighborhood" in Spanish, and in most Spanish-speaking places, that's exactly what it means. In Cuba and Spain, barrios are official divisions of municipalities. But in New York, Los Angeles, Tucson, Miami, and other U.S. cities, a barrio isn’t an official district, it’s just the neighborhood where Spanish speakers settled and/or still live.
Vocabulary lists containing barrio
The Poet X
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Mexico - Introductory
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Mexico - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
No state rescue squad or security force had arrived at his barrio by Friday, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026
In that same barrio, Flores raised three children with her first husband, Walter Gavidia, a police detective.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
It was a tough start though as he left his family's home in a barrio in Colombia's second-largest city Medellin to pursue that dream.
From BBC • Sep. 30, 2024
“It will take the whole barrio to uplift our community, to unite as one, to fix our community, to save our city.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2024
I drop Mama off at the cHnica to get extra doses of Papa’s medication, and I head for the barrio.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
