cuatro

American  

[kwot-roh] / ˈkwɒt roʊ /

Or quatro

noun

cuatros plural

1. a small guitar with four or five strings or pairs of strings, used in Latin American and Caribbean music.

---

Etymology

Origin of cuatro

First recorded in 1900–05; from Latin American Spanish, Spanish: literally, “four”; see origin at four ( def. )

Example Sentences

Rams habían avanzado 84 yardas en 14 jugadas y se enfrentaban a una cuarta y cuatro en la yarda seis de Seattle.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2026

She learned how to play the cuatro from her father, whose family took refuge in Venezuela during the Spanish Civil War.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2025

One winner was Estrada, who plays pensive, largely acoustic songs using a guitar-like Venezuelan cuatro.

From New York Times • Nov. 18, 2022

El principal vehículo para alcanzar sus objetivos es el Plan Biorregional, que desarrollaron a lo largo de cuatro años con el apoyo de sabios de las comunidades amazónicas y de científicos internacionales de talla mundial.

From Scientific American • Nov. 12, 2022

A group of men showed up with a cuatro, a guitar, maracas, and güiros.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago