List Of English Words Of Spanish Origin

A

; ''aulon''
; ''al-tob'', from Coptic ''tube'', ="brick"
; Adios : from ''adiós'', ="goodbye"
; Aficionado : from ''aficionado'', ="amateur"
;, from Latin ''albus'', ="white"
; Alfalfa : from Spanish, from Arabic '' al-fisfisa'', fresh fodder
; Alligator : from ''el lagarto'', ="the lizard"
; ''all-paka''
; Amigo : from ''amigo'', ="friend"
; Anchovy : from ''anchova''
; Armadillo : from ''armadillo'', ="little armed one"
; Arroyo : from ''arroyo'', ="stream"
; Avocado : from ''aguacate'', from Nahuatl ''Ahuacatl''

B

; ''banana'', probably from a Wolof word
; Bandoleer : from Spanish ''bandolera'', ="band (for a weapon or other) that crosses from one shoulder to the opposite hip" and ''bandolero'', ="he who wears a bandoleer"
;
; Barracuda : from ''barracuda''
; Barranca : from ''barranca''
; Barriada : from ''barriada''
; Barrio : from Spanish ''barrio'', =''neighborhood''
; Bastinado : from ''bastonada''
; Bodega : from ''bodega''
; Bolas : from Spanish ''bolas'', =''balls''
; Bolero : from Spanish ''bolero''
; Bonanza : from ''bonanza''
; Bonito : from ''bonito''
; Booby : from ''bobo'' ="silly"
; Breeze : from Old Spanish ''briza''--although some hypothisize the term came through Old French ''bize''
; Bronco or Broncho : from ''bronco''
; Buckaroo : from ''vaquero'', ="cowboy"
; Burrito : from ''burrito'', = a dish originally from Northern Mexico, literally "little donkey"
; Burro : from ''burro'', ="donkey"

C

; Caballero : from ''caballero''
; Cabana : from ''cabaña''
; Cacique : from Spanish, from Taino
; Cafeteria : from ''cafetería'', "coffee store"
; French ''calabouse'', from Spanish ''calabozo''
; Caldera (used in geology) : from Spanish ''caldera'', "=cauldron"
; Camarilla : from ''camarilla'' ="small room"
; Cannibal : from Spanish ''canibal'', alteration of ''caríbal'', from Caribe
; ''canaoua''
; Canyon : from ''cañón''
; , from Malay Language .
; Caramba : from Spanish ; expression of dread, displeasure, or disapproval, euphemism for ''carajo'' ="penis"
; Carbonado : from ''carbonada''
; Cargo : from ''cargo, carga''
; Cassava : from ''cazabe'', from Taino ''caçábi''
; Caudillo : from ''caudillo''
; Cedilla : from ''cedilla''
; Chayote : from Spanish, from Nahuatl ''chayotl''
; native American language ''chichab'', ="maize"
; Chicle : from ''chicle'', from Nahautl ''tzictli''
; ''chilli''
; Chipotle : from Spanish, smoked jalapeño, from Nahuatl ''chilpoctli''
; Chocolate : from Spanish, from Nahuatl ''xocolatl''
; Churros : from ''churros''
; Cigar : from Spanish ''cigarro'', from Mayan ''sicar'', ''sic'' (="tobacco")
; Cigarette : from French ''cigarette'', diminutive of French ''cigare'', from Spanish ''cigarro''
; Cilantro : from Spanish ''cilantro''
; ''coca''
; ''kúka''
; Cockroach : from Spanish ''cucaracha''
; Cocoa or Cacao : from Spanish ''cacao'', from Nahuatl ''cacáhuatl''
; Comrade : from French ''camarade'', from Spanish ''camarada''
; Condor : from Spanish, from Quechua ''cuntur''
; Conquistador : from ''conquistador''
; Coquina : from ''coquina''
; Cordillera : from ''cordillera''
; Corral : from ''corral''
;
; Coyote : from Spanish ''coyote'', from Nahuatl ''coyotl''
; Crimson : from from Old Spanish ''cremesín'', from Arabic ''qirmizI'', from ''qirmiz'' kermes
; Crusade : from ''cruzada''
; Cumbia : from ''cumbia''

D

; or Demarcation Point
; ''dinga'', ="seizure"
; Desperado : alteration of Spanish ''desesperado'', ="desperate"
; and Don Quixote ). Now used for the upper echelon of some British universities.
; Duende : from Spanish dialect, charm, from Spanish, ghost, goblin, probably from ''duen de casa'', from ''dueño de casa'' owner of a house

E

; El Dorado : from ''El Dorado'', literally, "the gilded one"
; Embargo : from Spanish ''embargar'' ="to bar"
;'' via the French ''embarrasser''

F

; Fajita : from ''fajita''
; Fandango : from ''fandango''
; Fiesta :from Spanish, =''festival'' or ''holiday''
; ''vrijbuiter'', ="freebooter"
; islands"
; Flamenco (dance) : from ''flamenco''
; Flamingo : from Portuguese or Old Spanish ''flamengo''. Current Spanish spelling is ''flamenco''.
; Flotilla : from ''flota'' (="fleet") then ''flotilla'' (="little fleet")
; Frijol : from ''frijol'', bean.

G

; Gaucho : from Spanish, from Quechua ''huachu'', ="orphan"
; form of ''griego'', "incomprehensible language" (lit. "greek")
; Guacamole : from Spanish, from Nahuatl ''ahuacatl'' then Spanish ''aguacate'' (="avocado") and ''mole'' (="mash")
; Guanaco : from Spanish, from Quechua ''wanacu''
; Guano : from Spanish, from Quechua ''huanu'', ="dung"
; Guava : from ''guaba'', ''guayaba'', perhaps from Taino
; Guerrilla : from ''guerrilla'', "little war"
; Guitar : from Spanish ''guitarra''

H

; Hacienda : from ''hacienda''
;
; Hombre : from ''hombre''
;'', also past participle of ''juzgar'' "to judge".
; Hurricane : from Spanish ''huracán'', from Taino (from Quiché)

I

; Inca : from Spanish ''inca'', from Quechua
; Incommunicado : from ''incomunicado''
; Iguana : from Spanish ''iguana'' from Arawak

J

; ''yaguar''
; named after Jalapa De Enríquez , a town in Mexico, and the capital of the state of Veracruz
; Jerky : from Spanish ''charqui'', from Quechua ''ch'arki'', ="dried flesh"
;. As an adjective it means "together".

K

; Key : from Spanish ''cayo'', from Taino (this is English 'key'/'cay'/'quay' as in an island, reef or a linked series of them, not the 'key' with which you lock/unlock)

L

; Ladino : from ''ladino''
; Lagniappe : from Louisiana French, from Spanish ''la ñapa'' or ''la yapa'', from Quechua ''yapa'', ="help" or "increase"
; Lasso : from ''lazo''
; Latino : from ''latinoamericano'', ="Latin American"
; Llama : from Spanish ''llama'', from Quechua
; Llano :from Spanish, plains, grassland
; Loco : from Spanish ''loco'', ="insane", "crazy"
; Luminaria : from Mexican Spanish

M

; Machismo : from ''macho'', =''male''
; Macho : from ''macho'', =''male''
; Maize : from Spanish ''maíz'' from Taino ''mahís''
; Mantilla : from ''mantilla''
; Maquila : from ''maquila'', ="share of product kept by the miller", from Arabic ''makīlah'', "thing that have been measured"
; Maquiladora : from ''maquila''
; Maravedi : from ''maravedi''
; Margarita : from ''Margarita'' (="Margaret"), from Greek "pearl".
; Mariachi : from Spanish, from French ''mariage'' ="marriage", a type of musical group and its players, originally from Mexico
; Marijuana : from ''marihuana''
; Maroon : from ''cimarrón''(="wild")
; Matador : from ''matador'' (="killer")
; Mate : from Spanish, from Quechua ''mati'', ="small squash"
; Mesa : from ''mesa'', table. The corresponding Spanish word to a flat top mountain is ''meseta''
; Mescal : from Spanish ''mezcal'', from Nahuatl ''mexcalli''
; Mestizo : from ''mestizo''
; Mole : from Spanish, from Nahuatl ''molli'' (="sauce")
; Mosquito : from ''mosquito'', literally "little fly"
; Mulatto : from Spanish or Portuguese ''mulato''
; Mustang :from ''mestengo'' or ''mesteño'', ="without known master or owner" (archaic)
; Mustee : from ''mestizo''

N

; Nacho : from ''nacho''
; Nada : from ''nada'', = "nothing"
; Negro : from Spanish or Portuguese ''negro'', ="black"

O

; ''bravo'', used by spectators of Bull Fight s or Football (soccer) ( Soccer ) matches

P

; Pachuco : from ''pachuco''
; Palmetto : from ''palmito''
; Pampa : from Spanish, from Quechua ''pampa'', =''plain''
; Papaya : from ''papaya'', akin to Arawak ''papáia''
; Patio : from ''patio'', inner courtyard, ="an open paved area adjacent to a home"
; Peccadillo :from ''pecadillo'', ="small sin"
; Peccary : from Spanish ''pecarí'', from Guaraní
; Peon : from Spanish ''peón'' (="laborer")
; Peyote : from Spanish, from Nahuatl ''peyotl'' (="caterpillar")
;"
; Pimento or Pimiento : from ''pimienta''
; Pinta : from ''pinta''
; Pisco : from ''pisco''
; Placer Mining : from ''placer'', ="sand bank"
; Platinum : from ''platina'', ="little silver"
; Playa : from ''playa''
; Plaza : from ''plaza''
; Poncho : from ''poncho'', from Araucanian
; Posada : from ''posada''
; Potato : from European Spanish ''patata'', itself from ''batata'', = "sweet potato", from Taino and ''papa'', "potato" from Quechua
; Pronto : from ''pronto'', ="soon"
;", usually establishing a Military Dictatorship (often a Junta )
; Puma : from Spanish, from Quechua
; Puna : from ''puna'', from Quechua

Q

; Quadroon : from ''cuarterón''
; Quechua : from Spanish, from Quechua ''qishwa'', valley of temperate weather
; Quesadilla : from ''quesadilla''
; Quinoa : from Spanish, from Quechua ''kinua''

R

; Ranch : from ''rancho''
; Reconquista : from ''reconquista'' ="reconquest"
; Renegade : from ''renegado''
; Rodeo : from ''rodeo''
; Rumba : from ''rumba''

S

;
; Salsa : from ''salsa'', "sauce"
; Sapodilla : from ''zapotillo''
; Saraband : from French ''sarabande'' in turn from Spanish ''zarabanda''
; Savanna : from ''zavana'', from Taino ''zabana''
; Suave : from ''suave'', "smooth"
; Savvy : from Spanish or Portuguese ''sabe'', "knows"
; {Link without Title}
; Sierra : from ''sierra''
; Siesta : from ''siesta''
; Silo : from ''silo''
; Sombrero : from ''sombrero'', (literally, shade maker)
; Stampede : from ''estampida''

T

; Taco : from ''taco'' from the Aztecs
; Tamale : from Spanish ''tamales'', pl. of ''tamal'', from Nahuatl ''tamalli'', dumpling made from corn flour
; Tango : from ''tango''
; Tapioca : from ''tapioca''
; Tequila : from ''tequila''
; Tilde : from ''tilde''
; Tiri : from ''tiro''
; Tobacco : from Spanish ''tabaco''
;)
; Tomato : from Spanish ''tomate'', from Nahuatl ''xitomatl''
; Toreador : from ''toreador''
; Torero : from ''torero''
; Tornado : from ''tronada'', ="thunderstorm"
; Tortilla : from ''tortilla'' (lit. small cake)
; ''thunnus'', from Greek θύννος, ''thynnos'' (=tuna fish)
; Turista : from ''turista'' ="tourist"

V

; Vamoose : from ''vamos''
; Vanilla : from ''vainilla''
; Vicuña : from Spanish, from Quechua ''wikunna''

Y

; Yam : from ''ñame''--possibly from Portuguese ''inhame''
; Yerba Mate : from Spanish, ="mate grass" (see also ''Mate'')

SEE ALSO

List Of Spanish Expressions In Common English

List Of Spanish Words Of Indigenous American Indian Origin

EXTERNAL LINKS

Montague, Artur, ''El elemento español en el vocabulario inglés: prolegómenos a una lista.'' AIH. Actas IV (1971). (in Spanish)

Online Etymology Dictionary

Real Academia Española Spanish dictionary

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List Of English Words Of Spanish Origin