cimarron
1 Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of cimarron
First recorded in 1840–50; from Colonial Spanish (carnero) cimarrón “wild (ram),” Spanish: “wild,” probably equivalent to Old Spanish cimarra “brushwood, thicket,” from cim(a) “peak, summit” (from Latin cȳma “spring shoots of a vegetable,” from Greek; cyme ) + -arrón adjective suffix; maroon 2
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.
Slaves who ran away and lived beyond the control of the planters were called “maroons”—from the Spanish word cimarron for cattle that escaped and lived in the wild.
From Literature
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The cimarron bear is avoided by the soldiers, if possible, when met by them.
From Project Gutenberg
The Spanish word "cimarron" signifies indiscriminately a runaway head of cattle or horses, that had become wild, or a runaway slave.
From Project Gutenberg
The animals which are found west of the Missouri River, especially in the Rocky Mountains, and far beyond them, are the buffalo, elk, deer, cimarron bear, mountain sheep, antelope, coyote, prairie-dog, etc.
From Project Gutenberg
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.