cavalo

From Late Latin caballus (“horse”), from Latin caballus (“pack horse”), from Gaulish kaballos.

• (Galicia) IPA^(key): /ka.ˈβa.lo/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ka.ˈβa.lʊ/

cavalo m (plural cavalos)

1. horse
   • a. 1284, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice de los músicos, cantiga 213 (facsimile):

     caeu con el o Caualo

     The horse fell with him.

• Fala: cabalu
• Galician: cabalo
• Portuguese: cavalo (see there for further descendants)

• Manuel Ferreiro (2014–2025) “cavalo”, in Universo Cantigas. Edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN

• cavallo (pre-reform spelling)
• vacalo (humorous)

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese cavalo, from Late Latin caballus (“horse”), from Latin caballus (“pack horse”), from Gaulish *kaballos, from Proto-Celtic *kaballos, perhaps ultimately an Asiatic borrowing or Wanderwort, compare Ancient Greek καβάλλης (kabállēs, “nag”), Proto-Slavic *kobýla (“mare”), Persian کول (kaval, “second class horse of mixed blood”), and possibly Karakhanid kevel (at) (“well-bred fast (horse)”). Cognate with Galician cabalo, Spanish caballo, Catalan cavall, Occitan caval, French cheval, Italian cavallo and Romanian cal.

• Audio (Porto):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alu
• Hyphenation: ca‧va‧lo

cavalo m (plural cavalos, feminine égua, feminine plural éguas)

1. horse (Equus ferus caballus)
   • 1880, Maria Amalia Vaz de Carvalho, “A Cigana [The Gypsy]”, in Contos e phantasias [Short stories and fantasies]‎^[1], 2nd edition, Lisbon: Parceria Antonio Maria Pereira, published 1905, page 143:

     A galera como um cavallo que obedece facilmente á pericia de um optimo cavalleiro, proejou a barra em meio das exclamações dos impacientes e saudosos passageiros.

     The galley, like a horse that easily obeys the skill of an excellent rider, crossed the bar amidst the exclamations of the impatient and nostalgic passengers.

• Papiamentu: kabai
• → Javanese: ꦏꦥꦭ꧀ (kapal)
• → Kaingang: kãvãru
• → Old Tupi: kabaru
  • Nheengatu: kawarú

cavalo m (plural cavalos)

1. (chess) knight
2. (slang) heroin
3. (automotive) horsepower (a unit that measures the power of an engine)

   motor de 172 cavalos ― 172-horsepower engine

5. (agriculture) rootstock

   Synonym: porta-enxerto

cavalo m (plural cavalos, feminine cavala, feminine plural cavalas)

1. (figuratively, derogatory) a coarse, rude person

• “cavalo”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “cavalo”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025

cavalo

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of cavar combined with lo