# barbecue

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbɑːbɪˌkjuː/ · frequency rank #12,548

## Definitions
1. A fireplace or pit for grilling food, typically used outdoors and traditionally employing hot charcoal as the heating medium.
2. A meal or event highlighted by food cooked in such an apparatus.
3. Meat, especially pork or beef, which has been cooked in such an apparatus (i.e. smoked over indirect heat from high-smoke fuels) and then chopped up or shredded.
4. A hog, ox, or other large animal roasted or broiled whole for a feast.
5. A floor on which coffee beans are sun-dried.
6. A framework of sticks.

## Etymology
From mid-17th century. Borrowed from Spanish barbacoa, 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”. Doublet of balbacua and barbacoa.

## Easily confused with
- **barbeque** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/barbecue-vs-barbeque)

## Common misspellings (11)
`abrbecue`, `babrecue`, `barbbecue`, `barbceue`, `barbeccue`, `barbeceu`, `barbeuce`, `barebcue`, `barrbecue`, `bbarbecue`, `brabecue`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/barbecue