List of English Words of Portuguese Origin - F-N

F-N

Fetish

from French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço ("charm", "sorcery", "spell"), from Latin factitius or feticius ("artificial")

Flamingo

from Portuguese flamingo, from Spanish flamenco

Grouper

from garoupa

Guarana

from Portuguese guaraná, from Tupi warana

Jaguar

from Tupi or Guaraní jaguarete via Portuguese

Jacaranda

from ??

Junk

from junco, from Javanese djong (Malay adjong).

Lambada

from lambada (="beating, lashing")

Macaque

from macaco, through French

Macaw

from macau; ultimately from Tupi macavuana.

Mandarin

from mandarim, from the Portuguese verb mandar (='to rule; to send') via the Dutch mandorijn, from the Malay mantri, from Hindi मंत्री matri, from Sanskrit मन्त्रिन् mantrin (="counsellor")

Mango

from manga, via Malay mangga, ultimately from Malayalam മാങ്ങ māṅṅa or from Tamil மாங்காய் mānkāy

Mangrove

probably from Portuguese mangue mangrove (from Spanish mangle, probably from Taino) + English grove

Manioc

from mandioca (="cassava") from Tupi mandioca.

Maraca

from maracá from Tupi

Marimba

from Portuguese, of Bantu origin; akin to Kimbundu ma-rimba : ma-, pl. n. pref. + rimba, xylophone, hand piano

Marmalade

from marmelada, a preserve made from marmelo (="quince")

Molasses

from melaço (="treacle")

Monsoon

from monção

Mosquito

from Mosquito meaning 'little fly'

Mulatto

Portuguese mulato. From mula (=mule) a cross between a horse and a donkey or from the Arabic term muwallad, which means "a person of mixed ancestry"

Negro

Negro means "black" in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, being from the Latin word niger (Dative nigro, Accusative nigrum) and the Greek word Νέγρος Negros both of the same meaning. It came to English through the Portuguese and Spanish slave trade. Prior to the 1970s, it was the dominant term for Black people of African origin; in most English language contexts (except its inclusion in the names of some organizations founded when the term had currency, e.g. the United Negro College Fund), it is now considered either archaic or a slur in most contexts.