bronco

[brong-koh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bronco ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural bron·cos.

a range pony or mustang of the western U.S., especially one that is not broken or is imperfectly broken.

Origin of bronco

1865–70, Americanism; < Mexican Spanish, short for Spanish potro bronco untamed colt (in Mexican Spanish: wild horse, half-tamed horse); bronco, apparently nasalized variant of Latin broccus; see broach

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bronco

colt, mare, stallion, filly, herdsman, rancher, wrangler, vaquero, gaucho, drover, buckaroo, cowpuncher, cowpoke, cattleman, stockman, cowhand, plug, pony, nag, foal

Examples from the Web for bronco

Contemporary Examples of bronco

The 20 years since then have been kinder to that Bronco than to Broncos in general.
Where’s O.J.’s White Bronco Now?
Oliver Jones
June 16, 2014
Fortunately, the record-setting Bronco offense did its part to set yet another record.
The Impossible Super Bowl Score: First 43-8 Football Game in a Century
Evin Demirel
February 3, 2014

Historical Examples of bronco

He did not know what that something was; but the bronco added to his suspicions by its behavior.
When the West Was Young
Frederick R. Bechdolt
The bronco stock was bad enough but the green mules were the worst.
When the West Was Young
Frederick R. Bechdolt
One such day, if the sheepmen were prepared, and Bronco Mesa would be a desert.
Hidden Water
Dane Coolidge
The boy was beginning to ride the shoulders like a bronco buster.
Martian V.F.W.
G.L. Vandenburg
The young man rode fast, putting his bronco at the hills with a rush.
Oh, You Tex!
William Macleod Raine

British Dictionary definitions for bronco

bronco

broncho

noun plural -cos or -chos

(in the US and Canada) a wild or partially tamed pony or mustang of the western plains

Word Origin for bronco

C19: from Mexican Spanish, short for Spanish potro bronco unbroken colt, probably from Latin broccus projecting (as knots on wood), hence, rough, wild

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bronco

also broncho, 1850, American English, "untamed or half-tamed horse," from noun use of Spanish bronco (adj.) "rough, rude," originally a noun meaning "a knot in wood," perhaps from Vulgar Latin *bruncus "a knot, projection," apparently from a cross of Latin broccus "projecting" (see broach (n.)) + truncus "trunk of a tree" (see trunk (n.)). Bronco-buster is attested from 1886.