Meaning

noun small crude shelter used as a dwelling

verb make one's home in a particular place or community

verb move, proceed, or walk draggingly or slowly

originUnknown. Some scholars derive this word from Mexican Spanish jacal, from Nahuatl xacalli (“adobe hut”). Alternatively, the word may instead come from ramshackle/ramshackly (e.g., old ramshackly house) or perhaps it may be a back-formation from shackly. Compare Tavringer Romani hak (“place, house”), Traveller Norwegian hak (“place”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0