chaparral

English

A valley filled with greenery
A chaparral in California

Etymology

From Spanish chaparral, from chaparro (evergreen oak) + -al, from Basque txaparro, from txapar, from sapar.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˌʃæp.əˈɹæl/, /ˌt͡ʃæp.əˈɹæl/
  • (file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌʃæp.əˈɹæl/, /ˌʃæp.əˈɹɛl/, [ˌʃæp.ɚˈ(ɹ)æl], [ˌʃæp.ɚˈ(ɹ)ɛl]
  • Rhymes: -æl, -ɛl
  • (US) Hyphenation: chap‧ar‧ral

Noun

chaparral (countable and uncountable, plural chaparrals)

  1. (US) A region of shrubs, typically dry in the summer and rainy in the winter. The coast of the Mediterranean is such a region.
    Coordinate term: macchia
    • 1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter IV, in The Understanding Heart:
      It was quite dark when, after an arduous climb, the sheriff made his tortuous way through the chaparral to the point where Anthony Garland should be stationed.
    • 1973, Al Jardine (lyrics and music), “California Saga (California)”, in Holland, performed by The Beach Boys:
      Have you ever been south of Monterey? / Barrancas carve the coastline / And the chaparral flows to the sea / 'Neath waves of golden sunshine
    • 2021 February 10, Grayson Haver Currin, quoting Chuck Johnson, “Chuck Johnson’s Ode to What’s Been Lost in California’s Fires”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
      “Look at all the chaparral on California’s coast — it’s all about surviving that kind of fire cycle.”
  2. The foliage of creosote bush, Larrea divaricata, when used as a medicinal herb.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

Spanish

Etymology

From chaparro + -al, from Basque txaparro.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /t͡ʃapaˈral/ [t͡ʃa.paˈral]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Syllabification: cha‧pa‧rral

Noun

chaparral m (plural chaparrales)

  1. chaparral

Descendants

  • English: chaparral

Further reading

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