List of Spanish words of Nahuatl origin explained

Documented Nahuatl words in the Spanish language (mostly as spoken in Mexico and Mesoamerica), also called Spanish; Castilian: [[Nahuatlismo]]s include an extensive list of words that represent (i) animals, (ii) plants, fruit and vegetables, (iii) foods and beverages, and (iv) domestic appliances.

Many of these words end with the absolutive suffix "-tl" in Nahuatl. This word ending—thought to be difficult for Spanish speakers to pronounce at the time—evolved in Spanish into a "-te" ending (e.g. axolotl = ajolote). As a rule of thumb, a Spanish word for an animal, plant, food or home appliance widely used in Mexico and ending in "-te" is highly likely to have a Nahuatl origin.

Animals

1. Acocil (crayfish)
2. Ajolote (axolotl)
3. Cacomixtle
4. Chapulín (grasshopper)
5. Cenzontle (mockingbird)
6. Coyote
7. Escamoles (ant eggs)
8. Guachinango (red snapper)
9. Guajolote (turkey)
10. Ocelote (ocelot)
11. Mapache (raccoon)
12. Mayate (beetle)
13. Moyote (mosquito)
14. Pinacate
15. Pizote (Coati)
16. Quetzal
17. Tecolote (owl)
18. Tepezcuintle
19. Techalote (squirrel)
20. Tlacuache (opossum)
21. Xoloitzcuintli (Mexican Hairless Dog)
22. Zanate (Grackle)
23. Zopilote (vulture)

Plants, fruits and vegetables

Achiote (Bixa orellana) Aguacate (Avocado) Ahuehuete (Taxodium mucronatum)^[1] Amate (a variety of fig) Anacahuite (Cordia boissieri)^[2] Anacua (Ehretia anacua)^[3] Cacao Camote (sweet potato) Cacahuete o cacahuate^[4] (peanut) Chayote Chilacayote Chile (chili pepper) Ejote (green bean) Elote (maize) Epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides) Huizache (Vachellia farnesiana var. farnesiana) Huitlacoche (corn smut) Jícama Jinamaiste

Jilote Jitomate (tomato) Mesquite Milpa Nejayote Nopal (cactus) Ochote Ocote (Pinus montezumae) Olote (cob without the corn) Peyote Quiote (the nectar-filled stem of the agave plant) Tepescohuite (Mimosa tenuiflora) Tomate (everywhere except Central Mexico – tomato; Central Mexico – tomatillo) Tule Xalapeño (jalapeño), from its place of origin, the town of Xalapa Zihuapaste Zacate (grass) Zapote (sapodilla)

Foods and drinks

Atole (a cornmeal drink) Chicle (chewing gum) Chocolate Chipotle (smoked jalapeños) Elote (Maize) Guacamole Huauzontle Huitlacoche (corn smut) Mezcal Mezquitamal Mole

Nanche Nixtamal (hominy paste) Pinole Pozole (hominy) Pulque Tamal (tamale) Tequila Tejocote Tlacoyo Tlayuda Xoconostle Jocoque

Names of places

Countries

• Cuauhtemallan (Guatemala)
• Mehxico (México
• Nicanahuac (Nicaragua)
• Cozcatlan (El Salvador)

States/Provinces/Departments

• Zacatecas, possibly
• Tlaxcala (Mex)
• Tabasco (Mex)
• Jalisco (Mex)
• México (Mex)
• Oaxaca (Mex)
• Chimaltenango (Guatemala)
• Escuintla (Guatemala)
• Huehuetenango (Guatemala)
• Quetzaltenango (Guatemala)
• Sacatepéquez (Guatemala)
• Cuscatlán Department (El Salvador)
• Chinandega Department (Nicaragua)
• Jinotega Department (Nicaragua)

Cities

• Nezahualcoyotl
• Texcoco
• Xochimilco
• Iztacalco
• Iztapalapa
• Tacuba
• Chapultepec
• Tepeyac
• Oaxtepec
• Culiacán
• Mazatlán
• Mexico-Tenochtitlán (former center of the Aztec Empire, now Mexico City)
• Xalapa
• Countless other cities throughout Mexico and northern Central America

Geographical elements

• Iztaccíhuatl (a volcano)
• Popocatépetl (a volcano)
• Citlaltépetl (a volcano)
• Xinantecatl (a volcano)
• Momotombo (a volcano)
• Sahuayo

Other terms, includes home appliances

Ayate Azteca (Aztec) Cacle (shoe or sandal, from "cactli") Capulín Chamarra Chamaco ("boy", used in Mexican slang, from "chamahuac", meaning "plump") Chamagoso Chapopote Chinampa Chiquihuite (hollow basket that holds tortillas) Comal (clay cookware) Copal Cuate (fraternal twin) Escuincle (a child) Huipil

Hule (rubber or plastic) Itacate Jacal (shack) Jícara = clay cup / calabash Macho = exemplar, one that is worthy of imitation^[5] Malacate Malinche ("traitor", a reference to Doña Marina, or Malintzin) Mecapal (tumpline) Mecate (rope) Metate (grinding stones) Mitote Molcajete (mortar and pestle) Nixtamal Ocote Otate Paliacate Cacle (from nahuatl, Cactli)

Papalote (kite) Pepenar Petaca Petate (sleeping mat of woven palm fiber) Peyote Piciete ("cigarette", used in rural Mexico, from "picietl", literally "tobacco") Popote (straw) Tenamaste Tepetate Tianguis = open air market Tiza Tzompantli (skull banner)

See also

• Nahuatl–Spanish contact
• List of English words of Spanish origin
• List of English words of Nahuatl origin
• Influences on the Spanish language
• Indigenous languages of the Americas

External links

• Nahuatl Wikipedia

Notes and References

1. Web site: Taxodium mucronatum . The Gymnosperm Database . 2009-10-12 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100109102022/http://www.conifers.org/cu/tax/mucronatum.html . 2010-01-09 .
2. Web site: Ehretia anacua (Teran & Berl.) I.M. Johnston . Native Plant Information Network . Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center . 2009-10-12.
3. Book: Tallichet, H. . Dialect Notes . Part IV . American Dialect Society . 1890 . 244.
4. Web site: cacahuate . Diccionario de la lengua española, edición del tricentenario . Real Academia Española . 2018-01-22.
5. Book: Rémi Siméon. Rémi Siméon. Diccionario de la lengua náhuatl o mexicana.. 1977. Siglo XXI Editores, S.A. de C.V., 2004 . 968-23-0573-X . 246 and 258 . Macho: distinguished, ilustrious, etc. as a passive voice of Mati: uel macho ó nouian macho, evident, well known, notorious; qualli ipam macho, he is good, well behaved, etc..