List of Spanish words of Indigenous American Indian origin

This is a list of Spanish words that come from indigenous languages of the Americas. It is further divided into words that come from Arawakan, Aymara, Carib, Mayan, Nahuatl, Quechua, Taíno, Tarahumara, Tupi and uncertain (the word is known to be from the Americas, but the exact source language is unclear). Some of these words have alternate etymologies and may also appear on a list of Spanish words from a different language.

Alphabetic list

A achira (Quechua) — purple arrowroot (Canna indica) or giant arrowhead (Sagittaria montevidensis) aguacate (Nahuatl awakatl) — avocado ajolote (Nahuatl axolotl) — axolotl alpaca (Quechua allpaqa) — alpaca amate (Nahuatl amatl) — fig tree or creeping fig anticucho (Quechua anti uchu) — skewered meat atole (Nahuatl atolli) — atole

B barbacoa (Taíno) — barbecue batata (Taíno) — sweet potato bejuco (Taíno) — guaco or bejuco, a type of vine biznaga — refers several types of cacti, see Spanish Wikipedia bohío (Taíno) — bahareque, an indigenous style of building houses Boriquen (Taíno) — name for Puerto Rico boricua (Taíno) — inhabitants of Boriquen borinqueño — adaptation from the Taíno word Boricua, means Puerto Rican

C cacahuate/cacahuete (Nahuatl kakawatl) cacao (Nahuatl) cacique (Taíno) cacomistle, cacomiztle, cacomixtle (Nahuatl kakomixtli) caimán (Taíno) calato (Quechua) calincha (Quechua qharincha) calpulli (Nahuatl kalpulli) camote (Nahuatl kamohtli) cancha (Quechua kancha) caníbal (Taíno) canoa (Taíno) cañihua (Quechua qañiwa) caoba capulín caraota Caribe (Taíno) caribú carioca caraqueño casava (Taíno) catre caucho (Quechua) casabe, cazabe (Taíno) cayo (Taíno) ceiba (Taíno) chaco (Quechua chaku) chacra (Quechua chakra) champa (Quechua ch'ampa) charqui (Quechua ch'arki) chayote (Nahuatl chayotl) Chía (Quechua) chicle (Nahuatl tsikitl) chilacayote (Nahuatl) chile, chili (Nahuatl chilli) chinchilla (Aymara) chirimoya (Quechua chiri muya) choclo (Quechua chuqllu) chocolate (Nahuatl xokolatl) choro (Quechua ch'uru) coca (Quechua kuka) condor (Quechua kuntur) concho (qunchu) coronta (Quechua q'urunta) coquí (Taíno) coyote (Nahuatl koyotl) curaca (Quechua kuraka) cuate (Nahuatl koatl) Cuba (Taíno) Cangil (Quechua kankil )

E ejote (Nahuatl exotl) elote (Nahuatl elotl)

H Haití (Taíno) hamaca henequén hicaco huaca (Quechua) huaco (Quechua) huaraca (Quechua warak’a) huayco (Quechua) hule huracán (Taíno)

I iguana (Taíno) inca (Quechua inka) ixtle (Nahuatl)

J jacal jaguar (Guaraní) Jamaica (Taíno) jíbaro jícama (Nahuatl xikámatl) jícara jitomate jobo

L llama (Quechua) lempira loro

M mabí, maví (Taíno) macana (Taíno) macanudo maguey (Taíno) maiz (Taíno) mamey (Taíno) manatí (Taíno) mandioca (Nheengatu/Guaraní manio'k / mandio) mangle (Taíno) maní mapache (Nahuatl mapachtli) maraca maracuyá mate ('drink') maya mecate (Nahuatl mekatl) mesquite (Nāhuatl mizquitl) mico (Cumanagoto language) milpa (Nahuatl milpan) mixteco (Nahuatl mixtekatl) mole ('sauce', Nahuatl molli) morocho (Quechua )

N náhuatl nana (Quechua ñaña) nigua nopal (Nahuatl nopalli)

Ñ ñandú ñapa, yapa (Quechua)

O ocelote (Nahuatl ocelotl) ocote (Nahuatl okotl) ojota (Quechua ushuta) olmeca (Nahuatl olmekatl)

P palta (Quechua) pampa (Quechua) papa (Quechua) papaya (Taíno) pécari petaca petate pinole pita (Quechua) popote (Nahuatl, popotl) poroto (Quechua purutu) poto (Quechua putu) pozole (Nahuatl, pozolli) pulque (Classical Nahuatl poliuhqui octli) puma (Quechua puma) pupo (Quechua pupu)

Q quechua (Quechua qhichwa) quena (Quechua) quetzal (Nahuatl) quiltro quincha (Quechua qincha) quina (Quechua kinakina) quinua, quinoa (Quechua kinwa) quipu (Quechua khipu) quisqueyano

S sabana (Taíno) sonsote, cenzotle soroche (Quechua suruchiq)

T tacho (Quechua tachu) tamal (Nahuatl tamalli) tamanduá (Tupí probably from taixi mondé ant-eater) tambo (Quechua tampu) tapioca tarahumara tepehuán (Nahuatl Tēpēhuanih, Tepēhuāntin, Tēpēhuanitlahtōlli, and/or Tepēhuahcān) tequila (Tecuilah) tiburón (Taíno) tiza (Nahuatl, tizatl) tomate (Nahuatl tómatl) tucán tuna tuza (Nahuatl)

V vicuña (Quechua wik'uña) vizcacha (Quechua wisk'acha)

W wincha (Quechua wincha)

Y yuca yuyo (Quechua yuyu)

Z zacate (Nahuatl ) zapallo (Quechua ) zapote (Nahuatl ) zapoteca (Nahuatl ) zopilote (Nahuatl )

List by language of origin

Arawakan

Iguana Cocoa Barbecue Hurricane Hammock Savannah Tobacco Papaya Canoe Potato Jamaica Guava

Aymara china= feminine form of chino, see chino''' below chino= a person indigenous to the Americas, a mestizo, a servant: from Aymara (or Quechua) china "female animal, servant"

Carib

arepa = a typical maize bread; a pancake, a thin cake, fried or roasted made of maize flour (from Carib arepa) canoa = a typical dugout canoe made by the native Amerindians (from Carib kanawa) curiara = a typical dugout canoe made by the native Amerindians (from Carib kurijara)

Mayan chuco = adv (comp)

Nahuatl

Quechua Quechuan /ˈkɛtʃwən/, also known as runa simi ("people's language"), is a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably some 8 million to 10 million speakers

Taíno canoa = a typical dugout canoe made by the native Amerindians (from Taíno )

Tarahumara

Tupi–Guarani languages Guarani language: ñandú, ananá, guaraná, tatú, cajú, yacaré. Nheengatu language: tapioca (< typyʼók-a), jaguar (< jawár-a), mandioca (< maniʼók-a), tucán (< tukán-a) o tapir (< tapiʼír-a'').

Yaqui buqui = boy/child bichi = nude

List of Spanish words of Indigenous American Indian origin

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