Standard Lemma guide

caracara

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈkæ.ɹəˌkɑ.ɹə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K AA2 R AH0 K AA1 R AH0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of several South American and Central American birds of prey in the subfamily Caracarinae.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any of various long-legged carrion-eating hawks of South America and Central America

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: falcon

Narrower terms: Audubon's caracara, Polyborus cheriway audubonii, carancha, Polyborus plancus

History

Etymology

From Spanish caracara or Portuguese carcará, from Tupian, probably imitative.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: caracarà — bird of prey
  • Finnish: karakara — bird of prey
  • German: Geierfalke — bird of prey
  • Navajo: galagaláʼii — bird of prey
  • Portuguese: carcará — bird of prey
  • Portuguese: caracará — bird of prey
  • Quechua: alqamari — bird of prey
  • Romanian: caracara — bird of prey
  • Spanish: caracará — bird of prey
  • Spanish: carancho — bird of prey