jacal

American  

[huh-kahl, hah-] / həˈkɑl, hɑ- /

noun

jacales, plural jacals plural

1. (in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico) a hut with a thatched roof and walls consisting of thin stakes driven into the ground close together and plastered with mud.

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Etymology

Origin of jacal

1830–40, < Mexican Spanish < Nahuatl xahcalli

Explanation

A jacal is a hut made of poles, mud, and a roof of branches or reeds. To see one, the best places to look are Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Jacales, while having their own unique style, use a building technique common all over the world for hundreds of years: wattle and daub. This type of structure is built by first erecting a frame, usually of wood, and then coating it with a substance that is malleable when wet but solid when dry, such as mud. The roof is typically made of reeds, straw, or woven branches. Jacales are notable for being made with long, thin poles as the primary frame.

Example Sentences

He had laid aside his sixes—possibly in the jacal of the fair Pancha—and had forgotten them when the passing of the fairer Alvarita had enticed him to her trail.

From Heart of the West [Annotated] by Loewenstein, Joseph E.

They inside the jacal listen with bated breath, but hearts beating audibly.

From The Lone Ranche by Reid, Mayne

On this altar the people put the food used at the dances, and many ceremonial objects are placed here or hung under the roof of the jacal.

From Unknown Mexico, Volume 1 (of 2) A Record of Five Years' Exploration Among the Tribes of the Western Sierra Madre; In the Tierra Caliente of Tepic and Jalisco; and Among the Tarascos of Michoacan by Lumholtz, Carl

Once more, before coming in sight of the solitary jacal, Uraga commands a halt.

From The Lone Ranche by Reid, Mayne

While the Rangers are preparing for their Homeric repast, a group gathered in front of the jacal is occupied with an affair altogether different.

From The Lone Ranche by Reid, Mayne