Word.ws English Dictionary

carabao

/kæɹəˈbeɪəʊ/

carabao noun: a domesticated subspecies of water buffalo, Bubalus bubalis carabanesis.

carabao: a domesticated subspecies of water buffalo, Bubalus bubalis carabanesis
Image: SwarmCheng, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

carabao (plural carabaos)

  1. A domesticated subspecies of water buffalo, Bubalus bubalis carabanesis.
    • The weaker carabaos are slaughtered for meat, the stronger ones put to work on Golgotha, and the drivers are assimilated into the workforce.1999, Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon
    • Filipinos tell several stories about the carabao. The Tagalog, who live mainly on Luzon, tell the following story about how the carabao, one of the largest animals in the country, is tricked by one of the smallest animals, a hummingbird.2001, Greg Nickles, Philippines: The Culture, page 30
    Synonyms:
    kerbau

carabao meaning in Tamil, Tagalog, Malay and Indonesian

carabao in Tamil

இதுவும் ஒரு சிற்றினம் ஆகும், தென்கிழக்கு ஆசிய நாடுகளில் காணப்படுகிறது

carabao in Tagalog

Bubalus bubalis carabanesis
kalabaw, nuwang, anwang, anuwang, kubaw

carabao in Malay

Bubalus bubalis carabanesis
kerbau, benuang

carabao in Indonesian

Bubalus bubalis carabanesis
kerbau

Synonyms of carabao

Forms of carabao

pluralcarabaos

Origin of carabao

Borrowed from Spanish carabao, from Waray-Waray karabaw, from Malay kerbau, from Proto-Malayic *kAr(ə)baw, ultimately from Proto-Mon-Khmer *krpiʔ ~ *krpiiw ~ *krpuʔ ~ *(kr)puh (“buffalo”). Compare Khmer ក្របី (krɑɑbəy), Halang kơpùa, Indonesian kerbau, Javanese ꦏꦼꦧꦺꦴ (kebo), Thai กระบือ (grà-bʉʉ).

Words formed from carabao

Questions about carabao

What does carabao mean?
Carabao means a domesticated subspecies of water buffalo, Bubalus bubalis carabanesis.
What is carabao in Tamil?
Carabao in Tamil is இதுவும் ஒரு சிற்றினம் ஆகும், தென்கிழக்கு ஆசிய நாடுகளில் காணப்படுகிறது. See Carabao meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is carabao?
Carabao is a noun.
How do you pronounce carabao?
Carabao is pronounced /kæɹəˈbeɪəʊ/.
What is the plural of carabao?
The plural of carabao is carabaos.

Words near carabao in the dictionary

  1. Cara-Cathay
  2. Carabajal
  3. Carabajals
  4. Caraballo
  5. Caraballos
  6. carabao
  7. carabao English
  8. carabaos
  9. carabaw
  10. carabaws
  11. carabeef

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: carabao (page history and authors); carabao (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-carabao.wav.

Cite this entry: “carabao.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/carabao. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.