cucurucho

From dialectal Italian cucuruccio (“conical hood, cone”), from an intermediate Vulgar Latin *cuculullius (“cone, cowl”), from Latin cucullus (“hood, cowl, conical wrapper”). Shared origin with English cowl.

An ultimate Celtic origin, either borrowed from, into, or influencing the Vulgar Latin form is also sometimes suggested (cf. Irish cochull (“hood”)).

• IPA^(key): /kukuˈɾut͡ʃo/ [ku.kuˈɾu.t͡ʃo]
• Rhymes: -utʃo
• Syllabification: cu‧cu‧ru‧cho

cucurucho m (plural cucuruchos)

1. a cone made of paper or other material and used to contain candy or other small items
   • 2012, Celeste Bradley, A la caza del duque, Cisne, page 14:

     Un momento después, Phoebe volvía, tratando de pasar desapercibida, por el mismo camino que había recorrido antes, llevando un diminuto cucurucho de papel con las golosinas que había comprado y el primer sabor de chocolate en la lengua.

     A moment later, Phoebe returned, trying not to be noticed, through the same path she had gone through before, carrying a small paper cone with the candy she had bought and the first taste of chocolate in the tongue.

   Los niños salieron de la posada con cucuruchos repletos de golosinas.

   The children left the inn with cones filled with candies.

2. an elongated, pointed hood draped in cloth, traditionally worn by some participants of Holy Week processions in several Hispanic countries
   • 2006, Mariano Torralba Mateos, Cuentos de la Bisabuela, Cultura Viva, page 27:

     Un cucurucho como el gorro de las brujas.

     A pointed hat like the witches’ cap.

   Algunos penitentes se vistieron de púrpura y portaron un cucurucho en la cabeza.

   Some penitents clad themselves in purple and bore a pointed hat on their heads.

   (pointed hat): capirote

3. (colloquial, Caribbean, Central America) the highest part of a tree, house, building, etc.
   • 2011, Maricela Colón Meléndez, Voces de juncos en el pantano, Trafford, page 42:

     Desde el cucurucho del árbol, Lotis esperaba que su hermana pasara y se detuviera a saludar Camelia por la casucha, antes de proseguir su camino a la casa del abuelo.

     From the top of the tree, Lotis waited for her sister to pass by and stop to greet Camelia by the shack, before continuing on her way to her grandfather's house.

4. (colloquial, Colombia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Venezuela) a cone-shaped hill
   • 1998, Alexander von Humboldt, Maravillas y misterios de Venezuela, El Nacional, page 55:

     Distinguen en el país la cumbre redondeada del Turimiquire de los picachos destacados, o cucuruchos, revestidos de una vegetación espesa y habitadas por tigres que son objeto de cacería a causa del tamaño y hermosura de su piel.

     In the country they distinguish between the round summit of Turimiquire and the outstanding pointed summits, or cone-shaped hills, covered by thick vegetation and inhabited by tigers which are subject to hunting due to their size and the beauty of their fur.

5. (colloquial, Costa Rica, Honduras) summit (of a hill or mountain)
   • 1987, Emilio Díaz Valcárcel, Harlem todos los días, Editorial Cultural, page 186:

     […] ; creció hacia el cucurucho de la colina […]

     […] ; it grew towards the summit of the hill […]

   Synonyms: cima, pico, cumbre

• barquillo
• cono
• coroza

• “cucurucho”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10