List of English words of Spanish origin - Definition and Overview

This is a list of English language words of Spanish language origin.

Standard English words of Spanish origin

Batata: sweet potato in the Taino Indian language of the Caribbean. Chocolate: comes from the Nahuatl word xocolatl. Potato: comes from papa, meaning white potato in the Inca language, Quechua; Ranch: rancho, meaning ranch, settlement, or meat ration. Alligator: el lagarto, the lizard. Booby: bobo, silly or selfish, from the Latin for stammering, balbus. Bronco: meaning wild or rough. Cafeteria: cafetería, a coffee shop. Cargo: cargar, to load Cigar, Cigarette: cigarro Comrade: camarada, old Spanish for barracks company or roommate Guerrilla: a small raiding party or fighting force Hoosegow: from juzgado, a tribunal or courtroom, past participle of juzgar, to judge Mustang: mestengo or mesteño, a stray animal Patio: courtyard in Spanish Peccadillo: a form of pecado, to sin Renegade: renegado, deserter or outlaw Savvy: saber, to know Tomato, is derived from the Spanish tomate, a corruption of the Nahuatl word tomatl. Tornado: tornar, to turn, tronada, thunderstorm Tuna, comes from the Spanish atún.. Vamoose: vamos, let's go

Adobe 

from adobar ="to plaster"

alligator 

from el lagarto, ="the lizard"

barbecue 

from Taíno > Spanish barbacoa

buckaroo 

from vaquero, ="cowboy"

burro 

from burro, ="donkey"

burrito 

from burrito, = a dish originally from Northern Mexico, literally "little donkey"

cacique 

from Taíno > Spanish

cigarette 

from cigarro, = "cigar"

cannibal 

from canibal < caríbal< Caribe

canoe 

from Haitian canoa > Spanish canoa

canyon 

from cañon

chile 

from Nahuatl chilli > Spanish chile

cocoa 

from Nahuatl cacáhuatl> Spanish cacao

comrade 

from camarada

coyote 

from Nahuatl coyotl > Spanish coyote

guerrilla 

from guerrilla

hacienda 

from hacienda

hammock 

from hamaca

hurricane 

from Taíno > Spanish huracán

iguana 

from Arawak > Spanish iguana)

jaguar 

from Guaraní yaguar > Spanish jaguar

llama 

from Quechua > Spanish llama)

maize 

from Taíno mahís > Spanish maiz

marijuana 

from marihuana

mesa 

from mesa which means table. The corresponding Spanish word to a flat top mountain is meseta)

mosquito 

from mosquito, = "mosquito", literally "little fly",

mulatto 

from mulato, partly from Portuguese mulato

nada 

from nada, = "nothing"

negro 

from negro, ="black"

patio 

from patio

peccary 

from Guaraní > Spanish pecarí

plaza 

from plaza

potato 

from Taíno > Spanish batata, = "sweet potato"

pronto 

from pronto

rodeo 

from rodeo

salsa 

from salsa, = "sauce"

savvy 

from sabe, = "know" (third person singular, present indicative)

siesta 

from siesta

sombrero 

from sombrero, (literally, shade maker)

tiri 

from tiro

tomato 

from Nahuatl > Spanish tomate

English slang words of Spanish origin

List of words of Spanish origin used as English slang, but have not entered the standard lexicon.

agua 

water

amigo 

friend

bueno 

good

carne 

meat

chico(-a) 

boy, girl

cinco 

five

cuatro 

four

de 

of

del 

of the

dinero 

money

dos 

two

gracias 

Thank you

grande 

large

hombre 

man

manana 

mañana, tomorrow = both tomorrow and morning in English

mano 

hand, but in English it usually is used in reference to a fight

muchacho 

young man

mucho 

a lot of

muy 

very

nino(-a) 

niño, little boy, little girl. Also used as a meteorological term El Nino.

ocho 

eight

padre 

father, used in English as slang for a Roman Catholic priest.

que 

¿qué?, what?

queso 

cheese

sombrero 

hat, but in English it is used to describe a Mexican hat.

tres 

three

uno 

one

See also

• Lists of English words of international origin

External links

• Montague, Artur, El elemento español en el vocabulario inglés: prolegómenos a una lista. AIH. Actas IV (1971). (in Spanish) (http://cvc.cervantes.es/obref/aih/pdf/04/aih_04_2_027.pdf)