carallo

Galician

Street post known as o carallo vinte e nove, Santiago de Compostela

Alternative forms

• caralho (reintegrationist)

Etymology

The etymology is unknown, but the most plausible source, on the basis of both semantics and historical phonology, appears to be unattested Latin *c(h)araculum, which would have been a Latinized diminutive of Ancient Greek χάραξ (khárax, “stick”). This also provides a single, phonologically coherent source for the cognates: Portuguese caralho, Spanish carajo and Catalan carall. Attempts to attribute Italian same-meaning cazzo to the same etymon fail on phonological grounds, as the /r/ of carajo (or its absence in cazzo) remains unexplained, and no Latin phonological sequence develops as both /x/ in Spanish and /tts/ in Italian. Otherwise, perhaps related to Breton kalc'h, Welsh cala, from a derivative of Proto-Celtic *kalgā.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kaˈɾaʎʊ]

Noun

carallo m (plural carallos)

1. (vulgar) penis

   Synonyms: pirola, pito, pixa

2. (vulgar) damn

Derived terms

• caralla
• carallada
• carallo de rei
• carallote
• carallou
• caralloutou
• caralludo
• de carallo
• escarallar
• manda carallo
• tocar o carallo

 

Interjection

carallo

1. (slang, vulgar) shit!
2. (slang, vulgar) go to hell, piss off, fucking hell, fuck, damn it

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “caralho”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “caral”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “carallo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “carallo”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “carallo”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN
• DRAG