rabo

Rabo is a term that appears in several Romance-language contexts and can also occur as part of proper nouns. In Spanish, rabo means “tail” and is used for the tail of animals as well as the end part of objects. A well-known culinary use is rabo de toro, a bull’s-tail stew that is traditional in Spain, particularly in Andalusia. In Portuguese, rabo carries a similar literal meaning and can also be used in informal speech to refer to the buttocks, a usage that varies in acceptability by context.

Beyond its literal sense, rabo can appear in idioms and expressions related to endings, persistence, or final parts of something. In both Spanish and Portuguese, the word is common enough to appear in everyday speech and literature, though its exact connotations depend on context and tone.

As a proper noun, rabo may occur as a surname or place name in some communities, though such uses are distinct from the common noun’s meaning. In English-language references, instances of the word are typically loanwords from Spanish or Portuguese.

Caution is advised to avoid confusion with similar-looking terms or brands. For example, Rabobank is a well-known Dutch financial cooperative whose name is etymologically unrelated to the Spanish/Portuguese term rabo and uses a different capitalization.