List of Spanish words of Indigenous American Indian origin
This is a list of Spanish words that come from Indigenous languages of the Americas. It is further divided into words that come from Arawakan, Aymara, Carib, Mayan, Nahuatl, Quechua, Taíno, Tarahumara, Tupi, and uncertain (the word is known to be from the Americas, but the exact source language is unclear). Some of these words have alternate etymologies and may also appear on a list of Spanish words from a different language.
Alphabetic list
A
- aguacate (Nahuatl awakatl)
- ajolote (Nahuatl axolotl)
- alpaca (Aymara and Quechua allpaqa)
- amate (Nahuatl amatl)
- ambú
- atole (Nahuatl atolli)
B
- barbacoa (Maya Baalbak’kaab)
- batata (Taíno)
- bejuco
- biznaga
- bohío
- boricua
- borinqueño
C
- cacahuate/cacahuete (Nahuatl kakawatl)
- cacao (Nahuatl)
- cacique (Taíno)
- cacomistle, cacomiztle, cacomixtle (Nahuatl kakomixtli)
- caimán (Taíno)
- calpulli (Nahuatl kalpulli)
- camelo
- camote (Nahuatl kamohtli)
- campechano
- cancha (Quechua kancha)
- caníbal (Taíno)
- canoa (Taíno)
- caoba
- capulín
- caraota
- Caribe (Taíno)
- caribú
- carioca
- caraqueño
- casava (Taíno)
- catre
- caucho
- casabe, cazabe (Taíno)
- casava (Taíno)
- cayo (Taíno)
- ceiba (Taíno)
- chacra (Quechua chakra)
- chayote (Nahuatl chayotl)
- chía
- chicle (Nahuatl tsikitl)
- chichimeca (Nahuatl chichimeka)
- chilacayote (Nahuatl)
- chile, chili (Nahuatl chilli)
- Chile
- chileno
- chinchilla
- chirimoya
- choclo (ear of corn, Quechua chuqllu)
- chocolate (Nahuatl xokolatl)
- cigarro
- condor (Quechua kuntur)
- coquí (Taíno)
- coyote (Nahuatl koyotl)
- cuate (Nahuatl koatl)
- Cuba (Taíno)
E
- ejote (Nahuatl exotl)
- elote (Nahuatl elotl)
G
- gaucho from Quechua and Mapuche (Mapudungu) "Argentine cowboy"
- guacamaya, guacamayo
- guacamole (Nahuatl awakamolli <awakatl+molli>)
- guaco, huaco
- guagua ('child', Quechua wawa)
- guajolote (Nahuatl huehxōlōtl)
- guarábana
- guanaco (Quechua wanaku)
- guano
- guaraní
- guayaba (Taíno)
- güiro
H
- Haití (Taíno)
- hamaca
- henequén
- hicaco
- hule
- huracán (Taíno)
I
- iguana (Taíno)
- inca (Quechua inka)
- ixtle (Nahuatl)
J
- jacal
- jaguar (Guaraní)
- Jamaica (Taíno)
- jíbaro
- jícama (Nahuatl xikámatl)
- jícara
- jitomate
- jobo
L
- lempira
- loro
- llama (Quechua)(animal)
M
- mabí, maví (Taíno)
- macana
- macanudo
- maguey (Taíno)
- maiz (Taíno)
- mamey (Taíno)
- manatí (Taíno)
- mandioca (Nheengatu/Guaraní manio'k / mandio)
- mangle (Taíno)
- maní
- maraca
- maracuyá
- mate ('drink')
- maya
- mecate (Nahuatl mekatl)
- mesquite
- milpa (Nahuatl milpan)
- mixteco (Nahuatl mixtekatl)
- mole ('sauce', Nahuatl molli)
N
- nahua
- náhuatl
- nana
- nene
- nigua
- nopal (Nahuatl nopalli)
Ñ
- ñandú
- ñapa, yapa
O
- ocelote (Nahuatl ocelotl)
- ocote (Nahuatl okotl)
- olmeca (Nahuatl olmekatl)
P
- palta
- pampa (Quechua)
- papa
- papaya (Taíno)
- patata
- pécari
- petaca
- petate
- pinole
- popote (Nahuatl, popotl)
- poroto
- potosí
- pozole (Nahuatl, pozolli)
- pulque (Classical Nahuatl poliuhqui octli)
- puma (Quechua)
Q
- quechua (Quechua qhichwa)
- quetzal (Nahuatl)
- quiltro
- quisqueyano
S
- sabana (Taíno)
- sealey
- sonsote, cenzotle
- soroche
T
- tobacco (Taíno)
- taco
- tamal (Nahuatl tamalli)
- tamandua
- tapioca
- tapir
- tarahumara
- tepehuán (Nahuatl Tēpēhuanih, Tepēhuāntin, Tēpēhuanitlahtōlli, and/or Tepēhuahcān)
- tequila (Tecuilah)
- tiburón (Taíno)
- tiza (Nahuatl, tizatl)
- tocayo (Nahuatl, tocaitl)
- tolteca
- tomate (Nahuatl tómatl)
- tucán
- tuna
- tuza (Nahuatl)
V
- vicuña (Quechua wik'uña)
Y
Z
- zacate (Nahuatl zakatl)
- zapallo
- zapote (Nahuatl zapotl)
- zapoteca (Nahuatl zapotekatl)
- zarigüeya
- zopilote (Nahuatl zopilotl)
List by language of origin
Arawakan
Iguana Cocoa Barbecue Hurricane Hammock Savannah Tobacco Papaya Canoe Potato Jamaica Guava
Aymara
- china= feminine form of chino, see chino below
- chino= a person indigenous to the Americas, a mestizo, a servant: from Aymara (or Quechua) china "female animal, servant"
Carib
- arepa = a typical maize bread ; a pancake, a thin cake, fried or roasted made of maize flour (from Carib arepa)
- canoa = a typical dugout canoe made by the native Amerindians (from Carib kanawa)
- curiara = a typical dugout canoe made by the native Amerindians (from Carib kurijara)
Mayan
chuco = adv (comp)
Nahuatl
Quechua
Quechuan /ˈkɛtʃwən/, also known as runa simi ("people's language"), is a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably some 8 million to 10 million speakers
Taíno
- canoa = a typical dugout canoe made by the native Amerindians (from Taíno canowa)
Tupi–Guarani languages
- Guarani language: ñandú, ananá, guaraná, tatú, cajú, yacaré.
- Nheengatu language: tapioca (< typyʼók-a), jaguar (< jawár-a), mandioca (< maniʼók-a), tucán (< tukán-a) o tapir (< tapiʼír-a).
Yaqui
- buqui = boy/child
- bichi = nude
See also
Look up Category:es:Etymology in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- List of Spanish words of Nahuatl origin
- List of English words of Spanish origin
- Linguistic history of Spanish
References
- "Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española" by Guido Gómez de Silva (ISBN 968-16-2812-8)