Borrego
/bɔˈre.ɣo/noun
A young sheep or lamb; in some regions, a castrated ram or a sheep used for meat.
Did you know?Borrego is a real loanword in English only in specialized regional or culinary contexts, but its deeper history is not occult: it comes through Spanish from Latin and ultimately a pre-Roman pastoral vocabulary tied to sheep-raising.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
vervex
“A castrated ram or wether; a sheep for meat”
Medieval Spanish
Spanish
borrego
“A young sheep, lamb, or sheep kept for breeding/meat”
Modern Spanish
Spanish
borrego
“A lamb or young sheep; also, figuratively, a docile follower in some usages”
Modern English
English
borrego
“A regional borrowing used for a young sheep or lamb, especially in some dialectal or culinary contexts”