List of Spanish words of Indigenous American Indian origin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

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, 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.

[edit] Alphabetic list

[edit] A

aguacate (nahuatl awakatl)
ajolote (nahuatl axololtl)
alpaca (quechua)
amate (nahuatl amatl)
ambú
atole (nahuatl atolli)

[edit] B

barbacoa
batata
bejuco
biznaga
bohío
boricua
borinqueño

[edit] C

cacahuate/cacahuete (nahuatl kakawatl)
cacao (nahuatl)
cacique
cacomistle, cacomiztle, cacomixtle (nahuatl kakomixtli)
caimán
calpulli (nahuatl kalpulli)
camelo
camote (nahuatl camohtli)
campechano
cancha (quechua)
caníbal
canoa
caoba
capulín
caraota
caribe
caribú
carioca
caraqueño
catre
caucho
casabe, cazabe
ceiba
chacra
chayote (nahuatl chayotl)
chía
chicle (nahuatl tsikitl)
chichimeca (nahuatl chichimeca)
chilacayote (nahuatl)
chile, chili (nahuatl chilli)
Chile
chileno
chinchilla
chirimoya
choclo (ear of corn)
chocolate (nahuatl xokolatl)
cigarro
coyote (nahuatl coyotl)
cuate

[edit] E

ejote
elote (Nahuatl "elotl"

[edit] G

gaucho (mapudungu)
guacamaya, guacamayo
guacamole (Nahuatl "awakamolli" <awakatl+molli>)
guaco, huaco
guagua ('child')
guajolote (nahuatl huehxōlōtl)
guarábana
guanaco
guano
guaraní
guayaba
güiro

[edit] H

Haiti (Ayiti)
hamaca
henequén
hicaco
hule
huracán

[edit] I

iguana
inca
ixtle (Nahuatl)

[edit] J

jacal
jaguar (Guaraní)
jíbaro
jícama (Nahuatl "xicámatl")
jícara
jitomate
jobo

[edit] L

lempira
loro
llama (animal)

[edit] M

macana
macanudo
maguey
maiz
mamey
mandioca (nheengatu/guarani manio'k / mandio)
mangle
maní
maraca
maracuyá
mate ('drink')
maya
mecate (nahuatl mecatl)
mesquite
milpa (nahuatl milpan)
mixteco (nahuatl mixtecatl)
mole ('sauce', nahuatl molli)

[edit] N

nahua
náhuatl
nana
nene
nigua
nopal (Nahuatl "nopalli")

[edit] Ñ

ñandú
ñapa, yapa

[edit] O

ocelote (nahuatl ocelotl)
ocote (nahuatl ocotl)
olmeca (nahuatl olmecatl)

[edit] P

palta
pampa
papa
papaya
patata
pécari
petaca
petate
pinole
poroto
potosí
pozole
pulque
puma

[edit] Q

quechua
quetzal (Nahuatl)
quiltro
quisqueyano

[edit] S

sabana
sealey
sonsote, cenzotle
soroche

[edit] T

tabaco
taco
tamal (Nahuatl "tamalli")
tamandua
tapioca
tapir
tarahumara
tequila (Tecuilah)
tiburón
tiza
tolteca
tomate (Nahuatl "tómatl)
tucán
tuna

[edit] V

vicuña

[edit] Y

yuca

[edit] Z

zacate (nahuatl zacatl)
zapallo
zapote (nahuatl zapotl)
zapoteca (nahuatl zapotecatl)
zarigüeya
zopilote (nahuatl zopilotl)

[edit] List by language of origin

[edit] Arawakan

Iguana Cocoa Barbecue Hurricane Hammock Savannah Tobacco Papaya Canoe Potato Jamaica Guava

[edit] 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"

[edit] 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)

[edit] Mayan

chuco = adj, having a dark color, sometimes with the connotation of dirty

[edit] Nahuatl

Main article: List of Spanish words of Nahuatl origin

[edit] Quechua

[edit] Tarahumara

[edit] 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).

[edit] Yaqui

buqui = boy/child
bichi = nude

[edit] uncertain derivation

[edit] See also

Look up Category:es:Etymology in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

[edit] References

"Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española" by Guido Gómez de Silva (ISBN 968-16-2812-8)