rancho/ˈɹɑːnt͡ʃoʊ/EtymologyBorrowed from Spanish rancho (“mess, mess room”). Compare ranch.nounA simple hut, such as one with posts, covered with branches or thatch, where herdsmen or farm workers would lodge at night.A large grazing farm where horses and cattle are raised; distinguished from hacienda, a cultivated farm or plantation.“The nearest house, they told us, was a rancho, or cattle-farm, about three miles off.”