culo (Spanish)

Where does "culo" come from?

The Spanish noun 'culo' comes directly from Old Spanish 'culo'[1], which was inherited from the Latin term 'culus'[1][2], meaning 'arse'[2]. Linguists trace the Latin word back through Proto-Italic '*kūlos'[3] to a Proto-Indo-European root reconstructed as '*(s)kewH-'[3][4], meaning 'to cover' or 'to conceal'[3][4]. Over time, this ancient root related to covering or hiding evolved into a designation for the rear or buttocks, a sense retained across its descent into Spanish.

Open questions

The exact Proto-Indo-European reconstruction is hypothetical, alternating between suffixes like '*kuH-l-' and '*(s)kewHlo-' based on the root '*(s)kewH-'. [3] [4]

Full etymology tree

culo (Spanish), 'ass, arse, booty, rear, behind, butt, buttocks'
- inherited culo (Old Spanish), 'arse'
  - inherited culus (Latin), 'The posterior, arse, ass, buttocks'
    - inherited *kūlos (Proto-Italic), 'posterior'
      - inherited *(s)kewHlo- (Proto-Indo-European)
        derived *(s)kewH- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cover, conceal, hide'
      - inherited *kuH-l- (Proto-Indo-European)
        derived *(s)kewH- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cover, conceal, hide'

Ancestors

culo (Old Spanish)
culus (Latin)

Descendants and derived words

acular (Spanish)
apretar el culo (Spanish)
a tomar por culo (Spanish)
a tomar por el culo (Spanish)
bésame el culo (Spanish)
caerse de culo (Spanish)
caraculo (Spanish)
chupe mantequilla de mi culo (Spanish)
como el culo (Spanish)
con el culo al aire (Spanish)
con el culo en el aire (Spanish)
con la hora pegada al culo (Spanish)

Sources

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris