The English language is drawn to the Spanish language. Many English-language words come directly from the Spanish language—and I’m not just talking about the ones you find on the menu at your local Mexican or quasi-Mexican restaurant.
From “canyon” to “alligator,” you’ll be surprised by just how much the Spanish language has influenced English.
Despite rumors to the contrary, this isn’t Spanish for “arid zone.” Instead, the name Arizona was derived from the Spanish name Arizonac, which was in turn derived from an O’odham phrase meaning “small stream.”
2. California
The name California originated in the 1510 book “Las sergas de Esplandián”(“The Adventures of Esplandián”). In the story, California was a remote kingdom inhabited only by women. The name came from the name of their queen, Calafia. Her name may have come from the Spanish word califa, which came from the Arabic word khalifa, referring to a religious state leader.
3. Colorado
While the state itself derived its name from the Colorado River, the river got its name from the Spanish word colorado, meaning “red.”
4. Florida
Florida in Spanish is an adjective meaning “flowered” or “flowery.”
5. Montana
The name Montana comes from the Spanish word montaña, which means “mountain.”
6. Nevada
Though you’d never guess it from the bright lights and vast deserts in this state, the Spanish adjective nevada
means “snowy” or “snow-covered,” and as a noun it means “snowfall.” It was named for the snow that blankets the mountains in winter.
7. Texas
The name Texas originated from the Spanish word tejas, derived from a Caddo word for “friends.”
8. Puerto Rico
In Spanish, puerto
means “port” while rico
means “rich,” so this name literally means “rich port.”
9. Los Angeles
Ever wonder why Los Angeles is called “The City of Angels”? There’s an easy answer: The Spanish phrase los ángeles
means “the angels.”
10. Las Vegas
Las Vegas
means “the meadows”—and you’ll be skipping through them if you hit the jackpot!
11. “San” anything
The Spanish word san
means “saint,” so any city that begins with San is just “Saint” something. For instance, San Diego is the Spanish name for Saint Didacus of Alcalá, and San Antonio is the Spanish name for Saint Anthony of Padua.
Places
12. Cafeteria
The word “cafeteria” originated from the Latin American Spanish word cafetería, which meant “coffee shop.” Nowadays, though, the Spanish café
is a more commonly used term for “coffee shop,” and cafetería has come to mean… you guessed it, “cafeteria.”
13. Canyon
“Canyon” came from the Spanish word cañón
, meaning “tube,” “pipe” or “gorge.”
14. Corral
This word comes from the Spanish word corral
. In both Spanish and English, it refers to a pen or farmyard enclosure.
15. Mesa
In English, a “mesa” is a large plateau, but it originated from the Spanish word mesa, which means “table.”
16. Patio
In both English and the original Spanish, patio
is a type of courtyard.
17. Plaza
In English, this is a public square. The Spanish term plaza
originally meant “place,” but it now can also be used to refer to a public square.
18. Ranch
“Ranch” originated from the Spanish word rancho
which can refer to either a ranch or a communal meal.
19. Savanna
“Savanna” comes from the Spanish word sabana
. They share the same meaning.
Food
20. Anchovy
From the Spanish word anchoa. You can blame the Spanish for the name when someone tries to sneak some of these onto your pizza.
21. Banana
Though it’s debated, some believe this word originated from the Spanish word banana
, which originated from the Mande word banana. They all refer to the same fruit.
22. Barbecue
“Barbecue” is derived from the Spanish word barbacoa
which may have come from the Arawak language. In Spanish, barbacoa is, in fact, meat that’s slow cooked on an open fire—anybody else craving Chipotle now?
23. Burrito
Now known as a delicious rolled dish in both Spanish and English, the word burrito
originally meant (and can still mean) “little donkey.”
24. Chocolate
The English word “chocolate” originates from chocolate
in Spanish, which is derived from the Nahuatl word chocolatl.
25. Churro
Of course, in both Spanish and English it can be used to refer to the delicious fried dough. But in Spanish, it originally meant “fritter.” Now it’s popular as slang with many different meanings ranging from “a mess” to “disaster” to more vulgar things.
26. Cilantro
You might know that the English word “cilantro” came from the Spanish word cilantro. What you might not have known is that, outside of the US, the same herb is often referred to as “coriander” or “coriander leaves.” Looks like the Spanish name really stuck in the US!
27. Gordita
While it’s sometimes used to refer to a particular type of dish in the US, in Spanish gordita
literally means “little fatty” and is used as a term of endearment.
28. Jerky
This is derived from the Spanish word charqui
which was derived from a Quechua word. In Spanish, it can refer to dried meat or fruit.
29. Mojito
In both Spanish and English, mojito
refers to the classic drink. However, the word was originally derived from the Spanish word mojado
, meaning “wet.”
30. Pimento
“Pimento” comes from the Spanish word pimiento, meaning “pepper.”
31. Piña Colada
Though you may be more familiar with the drink in English-speaking countries, both words in its name are Spanish. Piña
is “pineapple,” while colada
means “strained.”
32. Potato
“Potato” comes from the Spanish word patata, which comes from the Taíno word batata.
33. Tomato
“Tomato” comes from the Spanish word tomatewhich comes from the Nahuatl word xitomatl.
34. Tuna
While it has older roots in several languages, the English word “tuna” is derived from the Spanish word atún
. The exact origins seem fishy.
Animals
35. Alligator
“Alligator” comes from the Spanish phrase el lagarto
, which means “the lizard.”
36. Alpaca
This word comes from the Spanish word alpaca, which is derived from the Aymara word allpaca.
37. Armadillo
Though it now refers to the animal in both Spanish and English, the original meaning of armadillo
was “little armed one.”
38. Barracuda
In both English and Spanish, barracuda
refers to the same fish. It is thought to have been derived from a Cariban language.
39. Cockroach
The word “cockroach” comes from cucaracha
, the Spanish word for the same pest.
40. Condor
“Condor” came from the Spanish word, cóndor
, which came from Quechua.
41. Coyote
The name of this animal came from the Spanish name for the animal, coyote, which itself came from a Nahuatl word.
42. Iguana
Derived from Spanish, which derived it from Arawak, iguana
has the same spelling and meaning in both Spanish and English.
43. Llama
This word passed from Quechua to Spanish to English. It has the same spelling and meaning in all three languages.
44. Mosquito
Though it now has the same meaning in both Spanish and English, the literal translation was originally “little fly.”
45. Mustang
“Mustang” is thought to have originated from the words mostrenco
and mestengo, which both referred to free-roaming cattle but now simply means “unclaimed” or “without owner.”
People
46. Buckaroo
This old-timey term was derived from the word vaquero
which means “cowboy.”
47. Comrade
“Comrade” is thought to come from the Spanish word camarada, which means “companion.”
48. Renegade
The original Spanish word renegado
was used to refer to a rebel or turncoat.
49. Vigilante
“Vigilante” comes from the Spanish term with the same spelling. In Spanish, it means “watchman” or “guard.”
Things
50. Armada
The word for this grouping of ships comes from the Spanish term of the same spelling and meaning.
51. Bonanza
You’ll probably shout this out when you strike gold, but in the original Spanish, it simply meant (and still means) “prosperity.”
52. Bronco
In English, we use the term to refer to a bucking horse. But the original Spanish word actually means “rough” or “coarse.”
53. Breeze
“Breeze” likely comes from the Spanish word brisa, which shares the same meaning.
54. Canoe
“Canoe” likely comes from the Spanish word canoa, which shares the same meaning. The Spanish word is believed to have come from another language, though theories tend to vary.
55. Cargo
The English word “cargo” is derived from the Spanish word cargo
. They share the same meaning.
56. Cigar
“Cigar” likely comes from the Spanish word cigarro
which comes from the adopted Mayan word sikar meaning “to smoke.”
57. Cojones
While used in English to denote courage, the original Spanish word of the same spelling means “testicles.”
58. Embargo
The original Spanish word shares the same spelling and meaning as the English word. Both are used to describe official bans on trade.
59. Flotilla
In both English and Spanish, a “flotilla” is a fleet of ships, though the literal meaning in Spanish is “little fleet.”
60. Guerrilla
In both English and Spanish, “guerrilla” has come to refer to an armed person or group. However, the original Spanish meaning is “little war.”
61. Hurricane
The English word came from the Spanish word huracán
(same meaning), which likely came from an indigenous American language.
62. Jade
The word “jade” is derived from the Spanish term for the same stone, piedra de ijada
, which literally means “stone of the flank.”
63. Junta
The English word “junta,” which often refers to a coup d’état, is derived from the Spanish word junta, which can mean “joint” or “committee.”
64. Lasso
“Lasso” comes from the Spanish word lazo
meaning “bow,” “knot” or “tie.”
65. Macho
This word shares the same spelling and meaning in both Spanish and English.
66. Platinum
This English word is derived from the Spanish word for the same metal, platino, which literally means “little silver.” The Spanish word platino was originally known as platina from the word plata (silver).
67. Rodeo
Though in both Spanish and English this word can refer to a cowboy show, the original Spanish word comes from the verb rodear
meaning “to go around.”
68. Stampede
“Stampede” comes from the Spanish word estampida
. They share the same meaning.
69. Suave
The English word “suave” comes from the Spanish word suave, which means “smooth” or “charming.”
70. Tornado
“Tornado” is derived from two Spanish words: tronada
(thunderstorm) and tornar
(to turn).
As you can see, there are so many English words of Spanish origin. English and Spanish have both had an influence on each other, with each language adopting words from the other over the course of history.
A great way to become familiar with these words is to consume native media and see how the languages are spoken by native speakers. There are many different ways to immerse yourself in native media, such as watching videos on YouTube, or you could even try a language learning program like FluentU.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
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Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Spanish language and culture over time. You’ll learn Spanish as it’s actually spoken by real people.
FluentU has a wide variety of videos, as you can see here:
FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don’t know, you can add it to a vocab list.
Review a complete interactive transcript under the Dialogue tab, and find words and phrases listed under Vocab.
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