barbacoa
/ˌbɑː(ɹ)bəˈkoʊ.ə/
"barbacoa" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“barbacoa” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Meat slow-cooked over an open fire, characteristic of Latin American cuisine.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | barbacoa |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌbɑː(ɹ)bəˈkoʊ.ə/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “barbacoa” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for barbacoa is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌbɑː(ɹ)bəˈkoʊ.ə/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Meat slow-cooked over an open fire, characteristic of Latin American cuisine.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for barbacoa, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Spanish barbacoa (whence also barbecue), from Taíno barbakoa (“framework of sticks”), the raised wooden structure the natives used to either sleep on or cure meat. Originally “meal of roasted meat or fish”. The correct English form is barbacoa, spelled B-A-R-B-A-C-O-A.
Definition
- 1Meat slow-cooked over an open fire, characteristic of Latin American cuisine.
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish barbacoa (whence also barbecue), from Taíno barbakoa (“framework of sticks”), the raised wooden structure the natives used to either sleep on or cure meat. Originally “meal of roasted meat or fish”.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “barbacoa”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-R-B-A-C-O-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌbɑː(ɹ)bəˈkoʊ.ə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.