List of English Words From Indigenous Languages of The Americas - Words From Nahuatl

Words From Nahuatl

Unless otherwise specified, Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl classique is among the sources used for each etymology

Words of Nahuatl origin have entered many European languages. Mainly they have done so via Spanish. Most words of Nahuatl origin end in a form of the Nahuatl "absolutive suffix" (-tl, -tli, or -li, or the Spanish adaptation -te), which marked unpossessed nouns.

Achiote †

from āchiotl

Atlatl †

from ahtlatl

Avocado †

from āhuacatl, "avocado" or "testicle"

Axolotl †

āxōlōtl, from ā-, "water" + xōlōtl, "male servant"

Cacao † and cocoa †

from cacahuatl

Chayote †

from chayohtli

Chia †

from chian

Chicle †

from tzictli

Chili †

from chīlli

Chocolate †

Often said to be from Nahuatl xocolātl or chocolātl, which would be derived from xococ "bitter" and ātl "water" (with an irregular change of x to ch). However, the form xocolātl is not directly attested, and chocolatl does not appear in Nahuatl until the mid-18th century. Some researchers have recently proposed that the chocol- element was originally chicol-, and referred to special wooden stick used to prepare chocolate.

Copal †

from copalli

Coyote †

from coyōtl

Epazote †

from epazōtl

Guacamole †

from āhuacamōlli, from āhuaca-, "avocado", and mōlli, "sauce"

Hoatzin †

from huāctzin

Jicama †

from xicamatl

Mesquite †

from mizquitl

Mezcal †

from mexcalli metl and ixcalli which mean 'oven cooked agave.'

Mole †

from mōlli, "sauce"

Nopal †

from nohpalli, "prickly pear cactus"

Ocelot †

from ocēlōtl

Peyote †

from peyōtl . Nahuatl probably borrowed the root peyō- from another language, but the source is not known.

Quetzal †

from quetzalli, "quetzal feather".

Sapodilla †

from tzapocuahuitl

Sapota †

from tzapotl

Shack †

possibly from xahcalli, "grass hut", by way of Mexican Spanish.

Sotol †

from tzotolli

Tamale †

from tamalli

Tule †

from tōllin, "reed, bulrush"

Tomato †

from tomatl