Today’s Spanish word of the day is “barco”.
It’s a masculine noun meaning “boat” or “ship”.
Confusingly, there is also a feminine noun, “barca”, which is used to refer to small boats such as rowing boats that have space for a few people.
“Barco” refers to bigger boats and ships, and is a more general term than “barca”.
Both “barco” and “barca” come from the Latin word barca, which meant “small ship”. This is also the root of the English word “embark” (“embarcar” in Spanish), which originally referred to putting somone or something on board a ship.
Example sentences
El barco está en el puerto.
The boat is in the port.
El barco se mueve lentamente por el río.
The boat moves slowly down the river.
Subimos al barco para empezar el tour.
We boarded the boat to start the tour.
El barco llegó al puerto de Barcelona al amanecer.
The boat arrived at the port of Barcelona at dawn.
Cristóbal Colón navegó con tres barcos hacia el Nuevo Mundo.
Christopher Columbus sailed with three ships to the New World.
