Ladino

American  

[luh-dee-noh, lah-thee-naw] / ləˈdi noʊ, lɑˈði nɔ /

noun

plural

Ladinos

1. Also called Judeo-Spanish, Judezmo.  a Romance language of Sephardic Jews, based on Old Spanish and written in the Hebrew script.

2. (in Spanish America) a mestizo.

3. (lowercase) a wild, unmanageable, or vicious horse or other ranch animal.

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Ladino ¹ British  

/ ləˈdiːnəʊ /

noun

1. Also called: Judaeo-Spanish.   Judezmo.  a language of Sephardic Jews, based on Spanish with some Hebrew elements and usually written in Hebrew characters

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ladino ² British  

/ ləˈdiːnəʊ /

noun

1. an Italian variety of white clover grown as a forage crop in North America

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Etymology

Origin of Ladino

1885–90; < Spanish < Latin Latīnus Latin. Ladin

Example Sentences

The Ladino Hanukkah classic “Ocho Kandelikas” blared from the speakers while the Ahmed sisters of Houston hunted in vain for a clear spot to pose in their matching hijabs.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 25, 2022

Garcia said Ladino and Wilder left their home in Copan, Honduras, near the Guatemala border, with a human smuggler, or coyote, bound for the United States.

From Reuters • Jul. 3, 2021

These include Ottoman Turkish, Persian, and the peculiar but widely popular Ladino.

From Slate • Aug. 4, 2020

Other stories say it came to Greece along with Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in the fifteenth century, who, even in Salonika, called it by its Ladino name, sopa de huevo y limón.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 23, 2017

“Abuela, they say Ladino is an endangered language, so thank you for teaching me.”

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar