Etymograph

English

corral

Corral comes from Spanish corral ‘corral, enclosure’, from Vulgar Latin *currale ‘place for keeping a chariot’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-1‘to run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥sós1‘vehicle’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*korzos1reconstructed
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEcurrus2‘chariot’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*currale2‘place for keeping a chariot’reconstructed
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentcorral3‘corral, enclosure’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1897corral3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin currus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Spanish corral
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English corral
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Winston Churchill: “I corralled the judge, and we started off across…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-Wiktionary, Latin currus‘to run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥sósWiktionary, Latin currus‘vehicle’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*korzosWiktionary, Latin currusreconstructed
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEcurrusWiktionary, Spanish corral‘chariot’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*curraleWiktionary, Spanish corral‘place for keeping a chariot’reconstructed
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentcorralWiktionary, English corral‘corral, enclosure’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1897corralWiktionary, English corral. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Winston Churchill: “I corralled the judge, and we started off across…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’

course, current, rush, occur, currency, curriculum, discharge, hurry, courier, recharge, incur, precursor, corridor, carousel, concur, recursive, cursor, recursion, recur, hurrah, corsair, hussar, courant, succour, 41 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós ‘vehicle’

car, career, charge, carry, cargo, carrier, carriage, chariot, caricature, carrack, 14 more

Today it means

noun An enclosure for livestock, especially a circular one.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “corral”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin currus, Spanish corral. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- / corral

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