ocotillo

See also: Ocotillo

English

Etymology

From American Spanish ocotillo, from ocote.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əʊkəˈtɪləʊ/, /əʊkəˈtiː(j)əʊ/

Noun

ocotillo (plural ocotillos)

1. Any of various succulent plants, not closely related to the cactus, in genus Fouquieria, especially Fouquieria splendens, living in Central America or the southwest United States.
   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 731:

     It had rained in the night, and some of the ocotillo fences had sprouted some green.

Synonyms

• boojum tree, coachwhip, Jacob's staff, vine cactus

Spanish

Etymology

From ocote +‎ -illo.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /okoˈtiʝo/ [o.koˈt̪i.ʝo]

• IPA^(key): /okoˈtiʝo/ [o.koˈt̪i.ʝo] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /okoˈtiʎo/ [o.koˈt̪i.ʎo] (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /okoˈtiʃo/ [o.koˈt̪i.ʃo] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /okoˈtiʒo/ [o.koˈt̪i.ʒo] (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

 

• Rhymes: -iʝo

• Rhymes: -iʝo (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• Rhymes: -iʎo (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -iʃo (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -iʒo (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

• Syllabification: o‧co‧ti‧llo

Noun

ocotillo m (plural ocotillos)

1. (Mexico) ocotillo

Further reading

• “ocotillo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025