English

Noun

jacal ‎(plural jacals or jacales)

1. a wattle-and-mud hut common in Mexico and the south-western US

   • 1992: A few jacales of brush and mud with brush roofs and a pole corral where five scrubby horses with big heads stood looking solemnly at the horses passing in the road. — Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses

Spanish

Etymology

From Classical Nahuatl xahcalli, a conflation of xāmitl ‎(“adobe”) + calli ‎(“house”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xa.ˈkal/

Noun

jacal m ‎(plural jacales)

1. (Mexico) jacal
2. (Mexico) hut, hovel, shack

Synonyms

• (hut, hovel, shack): cabaña f, casucha f, choza f, cuchitril m

Derived terms

• jacalero

Descendants

• English: jacal

See also

• champa