Meaning

noun meat that has been barbecued or grilled in a highly seasoned sauce

noun a cookout in which food is cooked over an open fire; especially a whole animal carcass roasted on a spit

noun a rack to hold meat for cooking over hot charcoal usually out of doors

originFrom mid-17th century. Borrowed from Spanish barbacoa, from Taíno barbakoa (“framework of sticks”), the raised wooden structure the natives used to either sleep on or cure meat. Originally “meal of roasted meat or fish”. Doublet of balbacua and barbacoa.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0