HOW many words in English came originally from Spanish? Probably many more than we think. With the increase in foreign travel during the latter half of the 20th Century, lots of words entered the language as a direct result of tourism. But the origins of many “borrowings” go back much further, having entered American English from Mexican Spanish and other Latin American countries several hundred years ago.

Most Spanish words in English can be grouped into the following categories: food, animals, people, buildings, drugs, nature, and war.

In this first article on the subject, let’s look at animals. Words for land animals like alpaca, llama, coyote, puma, jaguar, iguana all come either directly from Spanish or from Native Latin American languages like Nahuatl, Arawak, Guarani or Quechua.

Mustang is from the American Spanish mesteño or mestengo (stray animal) and armadillo is a diminutive of armado (armoured), past participle of armar (to arm).

Creepy crawlies like cockroach come from cucaracha, from cuca (caterpillar) and mosquito is a diminutive of mosca (fly).

In the water our word alligator comes from the Spanish for lizard, el lagarto, and barracuda from barraco (overlapping tooth). Tuna is from atún, from Arabic at-tun (the tuna) introduced during the Moorish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula between 711 and 1492.

In Part 2 we’ll look at some examples of Spanish food words which we have adopted in English.

© Don Pablo

Don Pablo is Paul Whitelock, a graduate in Spanish and German, a retired Ofsted school inspector and former UK languages teacher. He now lives with his German wife near Ronda and is a freelance journalist, translator and interpreter. Paul can be contacted by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by telephone on (+34) 952 87 40 38 or (+34) 636 52 75 16. www.a1-solutions-spain.com 

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Spanish in English, Part 1
Saturday, 27 February 2010
HOW many words in English came originally from Spanish? Probably many more than we think. With the increase in foreign travel during the latter...

© 2012 - Secret Andalucia - Guadiaro Valley, near Ronda

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