noun

taco

TAH-koh/ˈtɑːkəʊ/

A Mexican dish of a folded tortilla with fillings.

The taco folds a soft tortilla around meat, onion, and cilantro.

A single soft corn tortilla folded around visibly seasoned meat, diced onion, and cilantro, viewed close enough to make the folded tortilla and filling immediately recognizable.

Etymology

tacoMexican Spanishplug, wadding; light lunch

Mexican Spanish taco meant “light lunch,” with the literal meanings “plug” and “wadding.” English uses the food sense specifically for a filled tortilla.

In context

Mark Wiens15:47

There's so many ingredients in this taco. I don't even know how it's being held together. It's just barely, barely holding on, holding together with that tortilla. But the fillings are just oozing out

The Ultimate MEXICAN STREET FOOD TACOS Tour of Mexico City! (ft. La Ruta de la Garnacha)

More examples

She ordered two vegetable tacos.
A little salsa topped the taco.
We prepared tacos for the family meal.

Forms

taco · tacos