Indigenous Words in the Spanish Language
What are some Spanish language words?
Many words in Spanish are indigenous words that were incorporated into the language during colonization under the Spanish Empire. Among the languages that contributed words to Spanish are Nahuatl, Arawak, Guaraní, Quechua, Tupi, Carib, and Maya. Below are a couple of examples of common Spanish words that didn’t exist in the Spanish language until the discovery of the New World!
aguacate (Nahuatl): avocado
cacao (Nahuatl): cocoa
canoa (Taíno Arawak): canoe
chicle (Nahuatl): gum
chocolate (Nahuatl): chocolate
guacamole (Nahuatl): guacamole
guayaba (Arawak): guava
hamaca (Taíno Arawak): hammock
huracán (Taíno Arawak): hurricane
jaguar (Guaraní): jaguar
llama (animal, Quechua): llama
maíz (Taíno Arawak): corn
papa (Quechua): potato
papaya (Carib): papaya
Tabaco (Taíno Arawak): tobacco
Tiburón (Arawak): shark
tomate (Nahuatl): tomato
Many of the words contributed to the Spanish language from indigenous languages are food words, which makes sense since the tropical fruits and vegetables found in the New World were unknown to Europeans and so had no translation.
Did you know… that tomatoes and potatoes were introduced to Europe only after the discovery of the New World? That means that the traditional European diet of “meat and potatoes” is relatively new, and that Italian cuisine was nothing like it is today. Imagine Italian food with no tomatoes or tomato sauce!
¿Sabías que… los tomates y las papas sólo fueron introducidas a Europa después del descubrimiento del Nuevo Mundo? Eso significa que la dieta tradicional Europea de comer “carne y papa” es bastante novedosa, y que la cocina italiana no se parecía en nada a la que conocemos hoy día. ¡Imagínate comer comida italiana sin tomates o salsa de tomate!
To see Spanish language words of Arab origins, check out our article on Arab words in the Spanish Language.
To find out how to say language in Spanish, check out our article on Language in Spanish.
To learn about how many people in the world speak Spanish, and other fun trivia about the Spanish language, check out our article on Spanish Language Trivia.
To learn about the history of the Spanish language, check out our article About the Spanish language.
