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zócalo

American  
[saw-kah-law, soh-kuh-loh] / ˈsɔ kɑˌlɔ, ˈsoʊ kəˌloʊ /

noun

Mexican Spanish.
  • zócalos
    plural
  1. a public square or plaza, especially in the center of a city or town.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

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.

See Examples For:

Police form a protective shield in the during the protests in the zócalo.

From Los Angeles Times May 18, 2026

This week in Mexico City’s central plaza, or zócalo, workers have been erecting a more-than 50-foot-tall replica of the emblematic Templo Mayor, the main sanctuary of the Mexicas, as the Aztecs called themselves.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 13, 2021

Colonized by the Spanish in the 16th century, it sits just uphill from the lagoon and is centered around a large main square, or zócalo, anchored by the Fort of San Felipe.

From New York Times Dec. 24, 2019

I’m sitting in el zócalo, the town square, beneath the shadow of Oaxaca’s cathedral.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 31, 2019

The next morning, we leaned against a wall at the edge of Coyoacán’s zócalo, or main plaza, another location where Mr. Santibañez had come as a teenager.

From New York Times Sep. 14, 2012

There are free associations of family, flowers, colored stones and animals, zócalos, little lost towns.

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 22, 2017

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