Spanish/English Words w/Nahuatl Origin

[David L. Frye]

Thanks for Joe Campbell's great list; I just wanted to note that most of
the words he cites are *Mexican* Spanish. The number of "aztequismos" in
the regional Spanishes outside of Mexico are somewhat smaller. (Note, for
instance, that Mexico is the only country, to my knowledge, where "tomate"
has the original meaning of "tomatl," i.e. the "tomatillo" or "tomate de
bolsa." Red tomatoes are "jitomates.")

There are many other commonly used words in Mexico that come from Nahuatl
Examples that spring to mind: jicote = bumblebee, ejote = string bean,
quiote = stalk of the maguey or century plant, nixtamal = "masa," corn
soaked in water and lye for making tortillas; tepache = racoon; tilma =
cape; tianguis = market; tejamanil = wooden roof tile (despite the
apparent similarity to Sp. "teja" I remember seeing a Nahuatl etymology);
etc. etc. Note that most of the common words refer to (indigenous) plants,
animals, and foods. The only verb I know of is pepenar = to
gather/glean/snatch.

The English words from Nahuatl are by and large a subset of the Spanish
words. Permit me to steal and modify Joe's list:


 Spanish Word            Nahuatl Word            English Word

 aguacate                ahuacatl                avocado
 cacao                   cacahuatl               cacao, cocoa
 chicle                  tzictli                 chicle
 chile                   chilli                  chili, chilli, chile
 chocolate               xoco-l-atl              chocolate
                          (sour-ed-water)
 coyote                  coyotl                  coyote
 jacal                   xacalli                 shack? (proposed etym.)
                          (I assume this is a compound)
 mejicano                mexicah                 Mexican; Chicano
                                                (from older Sp.*mexicano,
                                                with "x" = "sh")
 mezcal                  mexcalli                mescal (=liquor; the drug
                         (acc. to OED)          drugs mescal and mescaline
                         (I think this just     were named
                         meant "baked quiote")  in honor of their
                                                intoxicating qualities)
 mezquite                mizquitl                mezquite (tree)
 mole                    molli                   mole (sauce)
 nopal                   nopalli                 nopal (cactus)
 (?)                     ocelotl                 ocelot
 peyote                  peyotl                  peyote
 quetzal                 quetzalli               quetzal
 tamal                   tamalli                 tamale
 tomate                  tomatl                  tomato
 tule                    tollin                  tule (a kind of bulrush)
 guacamole               ahuacatl-molli          guacamole
                          (avocado-sauce)


Other possible words, though their etymologies are less direct, include
pocho, pachuco, and pot (as slang for marijuana; according to the OED,
from "Mexican Sp. *potiguaya* marijuana leaves." I've never heard
"potiguaya" but it sounds like it might be from Nahuatl.)