The Spanish word
ranchería, or
rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to
native villages and to the workers' quarters of a
ranch. English adopted the term with both these meanings, usually to designate the residential area of a
rancho in the
American Southwest, housing aboriginal ranch hands and their families. The term is still used in other parts of
Spanish America, for example, the
Wayuu tribes in northern
Colombia call their villages
rancherías.