contrabando

smuggling

noun kohn-trah-BAHN-doh Rare

Origin: From Italian contrabbando (against the ban), from Latin contra + Medieval Latin bannum (ban, edict).

Also means

contraband

Usage Note

Contrabando refers both to the goods themselves (contraband) and to the act of smuggling them. Hacer contrabando or pasar de contrabando means 'to smuggle'. The person who smuggles is a contrabandista. In colloquial use, de contrabando can mean 'on the sly' or 'under the radar', even outside a strictly criminal context.

Examples

"Descubrieron un cargamento de contrabando en el puerto."

Natural Translation

They discovered a contraband shipment at the port.

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