burro

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥

Proto-Hellenic *pāwər

Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr)

Proto-Indo-European *-rós

Proto-Hellenic *-rós

Ancient Greek -ρός (-rós)

Ancient Greek πῠρρός (pŭrrhós)bor.

Latin burrus

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Indo-European *-ikos

Proto-Italic *-ikos

Latin -icus

Latin burricus

Spanish borrico

Spanish burrobor.

English burro

Borrowed from Spanish burro.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbʊɹoʊ/, /ˈbɝoʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊɹoʊ, -ɜːɹoʊ
• Homophone: borough (one pronunciation)

Noun

burro (plural burros)

1. A small donkey, especially when used as a pack animal or one that is feral and lives in the southwestern United States or northern Mexico.

Derived terms

• burrobrush
• burroweed

Translations

small donkey

• Plautdietsch: Äsel m
• Portuguese: burrico (pt) m, burrego m, burrinho (pt) m
• Spanish: burrico m, burrito (es) m
• Taos: mùlduʼúna

See also

• ass
• donkey
• hinny
• mule

Anagrams

• Robur, rubor

Albanian

Noun

burro

1. vocative of burrë

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish burro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [ˈbu.ru]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈbu.ro]

• Audio (Valencia):

  (file)

Adjective

burro (feminine burra, masculine plural burros, feminine plural burres)

1. stupid, dumb

Noun

burro m (plural burros)

1. donkey

   Synonym: ase

2. bedwarmer

   Synonym: escalfallits

3. (games) donkey

Further reading

• “burro”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish burro.

Noun

burro

1. donkey.

Franco-Provençal

Alternative forms

• burou, borou, bouerou, beure, bouèrou, beûryou, buro
• buyro (archaic)

Etymology

Inherited from Latin butyrum.

Noun

burro m (plural burros) (ORB, broad)

1. butter

References

• beurre in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• burro in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

Galician

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin burricus (“small horse”), from burrus (“red-brown”), from Ancient Greek πυρρός (purrhós, “flame colored”), from πῦρ (pûr, “fire”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈburo/ [ˈbu.rʊ]
• Rhymes: -uro

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bu‧rro

Noun

burro m (plural burros, feminine burra, feminine plural burras)

1. donkey, ass

   Synonym: asno

2. fool; silly

   Synonyms: pastrán, parvo

3. (machine) crane

   Synonym: guindastre

4. trestle

   Synonym: trabanco

5. (regional) horse

   Synonyms: besta, cabalo

6. (games) a card game

   Synonym: xogo de cartas

References

• Antón Santamarina, editor (2006–2013), “burro”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, Ernesto X. González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “burro”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “burro”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French burre, from Latin būtȳrum, from Ancient Greek βούτυρον (boúturon). Doublet of butirro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbur.ro/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -urro
• Hyphenation: bùr‧ro

Noun

burro m (plural burri)

1. butter

Derived terms

• burrata
• burrificare
• butirro
• burroso
• imburrare

Descendants

• → Sidamo: buuro

Further reading

• “burro”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Anagrams

• rubro

Latin

Adjective

būrrō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of būrrus

Morelos Nahuatl

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish burro.

Noun

burro

1. donkey

References

• Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C. (2005), Pequeño diccionario ilustrado: Náhuatl de Cuentepec, Morelos‎^[1], segunda edición edition, Tlalpan, D.F., México: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., published 2006, page 9

Portuguese

Burro

Etymology

Back-formation from burrico (“small donkey”), from Latin burricus (“small horse”), from burrus (“red-brown”), from Ancient Greek πυρρός (purrhós, “flame colored”), from πῦρ (pûr, “fire”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbu.ʁu/ [ˈbu.hu]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbu.ʁu/ [ˈbu.hu]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈbu.ʁu/ [ˈbu.χu]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbu.ʁu/

• Rhymes: -uʁu
• Hyphenation: bur‧ro

Noun

burro m (plural burros, feminine burra, feminine plural burras)

1. donkey

   Synonyms: asno, jegue, jumento, jerico

2. (derogatory) idiot, dunce

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:idiota

Derived terms

• a pensar morreu um burro
• amansa-burro
• amarrar o burro
• burrada
• burrana
• burrão (augmentative)
• burreco
• burreiro
• burricada
• burrice
• burrinho (diminutive)
• burrito (diminutive)
• burro como uma porta
• burro de carga
• burro de sorte
• burro sem rabo
• burro-choro
• burro-mulato
• burrocracia
• burrocrata
• burroide
• burrozinho (diminutive)
• burrozito (diminutive)
• cabeça-de-burro
• cor de burro quando foge
• dar com os burros n'água
• emburrar
• lavar a burra
• pai dos burros
• para burro
• peixe-burro
• quando um burro fala, o outro abaixa a orelha
• tratar burro a pão de ló
• vozes de burro não chegam ao céu

Related terms

• borla
• borra
• burla
• burrico
• expurgar
• fona
• pira
• pirilampo
• piro-
• piromania
• pirómano
• purgação
• purgar
• purgatório

Descendants

• → Sinhalese: බූරුවා (būruwā)

See also

• asino
• burrito
• zurrar

Noun

burro m (plural burros)

1. sawhorse
2. (Brazil, university slang, dated) crib (a literal translation, usually of a Classical work)

   Synonym: pai-velho

3. donkey engine
4. (Angola) African striped grunt (Parapristipoma octolineatum)
5. (nautical) boom vang
6. (card games) a card game

Adjective

burro (feminine burra, masculine plural burros, feminine plural burras, comparable, comparative mais burro, superlative o mais burro or burríssimo, diminutive burrinho, augmentative burrão)

1. stupid, dumb, idiotic

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:idiota

Further reading

• “burro”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “burro”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “burro”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “burro”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Burro

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥

Proto-Hellenic *pāwər

Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr)

Proto-Indo-European *-rós

Proto-Hellenic *-rós

Ancient Greek -ρός (-rós)

Ancient Greek πῠρρός (pŭrrhós)bor.

Latin burrus

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Indo-European *-ikos

Proto-Italic *-ikos

Latin -icus

Latin burricus

Spanish borrico

Spanish burro

From borrico (“donkey”), from Latin burricus (“small horse”), from burrus (“red-brown”), from Ancient Greek πυρρός (purrhós, “flame colored”), from πῦρ (pûr, “fire”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈburo/ [ˈbu.ro]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uro
• Syllabification: bu‧rro

Noun

burro m (plural burros, feminine burra, feminine plural burras)

1. donkey, especially one used as a pack animal

   Synonyms: asno, jumento

2. (slang) a dunce, an idiot
3. (slang, figuratively) a well-hung man
4. sawhorse
5. old maid (card game)
6. burrito
7. Aloysia polystachya

Derived terms

• anteburro
• burrero
• burrito
• burro de planchar
• como burro sin mecate
• el burro delante, para que no se espante
• el burro hablando de orejas
• hierba del burro
• loma de burro
• lomo de burro
• más negro que los cojones de un burro
• mataburros
• no ver tres en un burro
• orejas de burro
• panza de burro
• pata de burro
• pie de burro
• poner a caer de un burro
• si entre burros te ves, rebuzna alguna vez
• té de burro
• tumbaburros

Descendants

• → Ayutla Mixtec: mburu
• → Central Huasteca Nahuatl: borroj
• → Cora: puúruꞌu
• → English: burro
• → Highland Puebla Nahuatl: bu̱rroj
• → Morelos Nahuatl: burro
• → Oluta Popoluca: burru
• → Quechua: wuru
• → Taos: mùlduʼúna
• → Tataltepec Chatino: huru
• → Tetelcingo Nahuatl: puro

See also

• mula
• burdégano

Adjective

burro (feminine burra, masculine plural burros, feminine plural burras)

1. (colloquial) stupid, foolish
2. (colloquial) brutish
3. (colloquial) horny
4. (colloquial, euphemistic, of a man) well-endowed

Further reading

• “burro”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025