picaro

(redirected from picaros)

pi·ca·ro

 (pē′kä-rō)
n. pl. pi·ca·ros (-rōz′, -rōs′)
1. A rogue or adventurer. Also called picaroon.
2. The main character in a picaresque work when that character is a man or boy.
[Spanish pícaro, perhaps from picar, to prick, from Vulgar Latin *piccāre; see pique.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

picaro

(ˈpɪkərəʊ; ˈpiːk-)
n, pl -ros
(Literary & Literary Critical Terms) literature the main male character in a picaresque novel
[Spanish]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pic•a•ro

(ˈpɪk əˌroʊ, ˈpi kə-)

n., pl. -ros.
a rogue or vagabond.
[1615–25; < Sp pícaro rogue]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Mentioned in ?
References in classic literature ?
They belonged mostly to that class of realistic fiction which is called picaresque, from the Spanish word 'picaro,' a rogue, because it began in Spain with the 'Lazarillo de Tormes' of Diego de Mendoza, in 1553, and because its heroes are knavish serving-boys or similar characters whose unprincipled tricks and exploits formed the substance of the stories.
View in context
Como bien advierte Michel Cavillac, en la Ortografia castellana su autor habla sin mascaras al lector y se presenta como un "abogado de la modernidad y profeta de la razon" (Picaros y mercaderes 75).
Mateo Aleman y las letras. Reflexiones en torno a la Ortografia castellana
La leccion resulta en que es imposible medrar sin participar de las infamias y la lisonja de los circulos cortesanos en los que los picaros de inicios del XVII, como Guzman y Pablos, cortesanos fracasados, deben inscribirse a toda costa para sobrevivir.
La media rota de Alonso Quijano: desengano y cortesia en el episodio de los duques
De bufones y picaros. La risa en la novela picaresca.
Lazaro de Tormes de Fernando Fernan-Gomez: hacia una lectura postnacional del Lazarillo de Tormes
Her perspectives include theory of mind, social intelligence, and urban courtship drama; social intelligence and social climbing among picaros and cortesanos; contextualism, skepticism, and honor; contextualism and performance in Lope's Lo fingido verdadero; and cognition and reading in Don Quixote.
Knowing subjects; cognitive cultural studies and early modern Spanish literature

Dictionary browser ?
Full browser ?