campesino

noun

cam·​pe·​si·​no ˌkam-pə-ˈsē-(ˌ)nō How to pronounce campesino (audio)
plural campesinos
: a native of a Latin American rural area
especially : a Latin American Indian farmer or farm laborer

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web The process of turning a huge and spiky plant into sipping liquor begins with a campesino armed with a long metal bar, a knife and a crude broad axe. John Maccormack, ExpressNews.com, 9 Dec. 2020 At a livestock market high in the Andes Mountains in northern Peru, Estaurofila Cieza recalled the joy that erupted in the region when a fellow campesino, or poor farmer, was elected president last year. Genevieve Glatsky, New York Times, 5 Dec. 2022 Aguadilla’s native son writes from the melancholic point of view of a campesino, or country folk, and sings to the daily practice of earning life necessities through harvesting and manual labor. Marjua Estevez, refinery29.com, 15 Sep. 2022 Made with beans, squash, chorizo, and spaghetti, this dish’s name comes from an old campesino (farmer) metaphor. Miska Lewis, Bon Appétit, 21 Jan. 2021 Members of the Las Cañadas campesino cooperative in Veracruz, Mexico, offer an interesting example. Eric Toensmeier, Scientific American, 1 Aug. 2020 Her mother was a campesino’s daughter in the Mexican state of Michoacán, and Ramirez’s grandfather was among the last braceros who came to the United States legally to work in fields. Elaine Ayala, ExpressNews.com, 11 Feb. 2020 The immigrant sons of campesinos, or farmers, the norteño band set up shop on the city’s east side in 1967 and went on to sell more than 40 million albums worldwide. Jason Green, The Mercury News, 13 Sep. 2019 Set out into the Sacred Valley with your team to photograph campesinos in traditional garb, old stone villages, and bustling markets, and get a fresh angle on the iconic Inca citadel of Machu Picchu. National Geographic, 12 June 2019 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'campesino.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Spanish, from campo field, country, from Latin campus field

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of campesino was in 1860

Dictionary Entries Near campesino

Cite this Entry

“Campesino.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/campesino. Accessed 8 Jun. 2023.

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