This is a list of English language words whose origin can be traced to the Spanish language, also known as "Spanish loan words". There is also a separate list of some words or phrases from Spanish that are sometimes used in English slang, but have not entered the standard lexicon.

A

abalone : from Spanish abulón, from Ohlone aulon

adobe : from Spanish, from Arabic al-tob, from Coptic tube, ="brick"

adios : from adiós, ="goodbye"

aficionado : from aficionado, ="amateur"

albino : from Spanish or Portuguese, from Latin albus, ="white"

alfalfa : from Spanish, from Arabic al-fisfisa, fresh fodder

alligator : from el lagarto, ="the lizard"

alpaca : from Spanish, from Aymara all-paka

amigo : from amigo, ="friend"

anchovy : from anchoa

armadillo : from armadillo, ="little armed one"

arroyo : from arroyo, ="stream"

avocado : from aguacate, from Nahuatl Ahuacatl

B

banana : from Spanish or Portuguese banana, probably from a Wolof word

bandoleer : from Spanish bandolera, ="band (for a weapon or other) that crosses from one shoulder to the opposite hip" and bandolero, ="he who wears a bandoleer"

barbecue : from the Chibcha word barbacoa

barracuda : from barracuda

barranca : from barranca

barriada : from barriada

barrio : from Spanish barrio, =neighborhood

bastinado : from bastonada

bodega : from bodega

bolas : from Spanish bolas, =balls

bolero : from Spanish bolero

bonanza : from bonanza

bonito : from bonito

booby : from bobo ="silly"

breeze : from Old Spanish briza--although some hypothisize the term came through Old French bize

bronco or broncho : from bronco

buckaroo : from vaquero, ="cowboy"

burrito : from burrito, = a dish originally from Northern Mexico, literally "little donkey"

burro : from burro, ="donkey"

C

caballero : from caballero

cabana : from cabaña

cacique : from Spanish, from Taino

cafeteria : from cafetería, "coffee store"

calaboose : from Louisiana French calabouse, from Spanish calabozo

caldera (used in geology) : from Spanish caldera, "=cauldron"

camarilla : from camarilla ="small room"

cannibal : from Spanish caníbal, alteration of caríbal, from Caribe

canoe : from Spanish canoa, from Haitian canaoua

canyon : from cañón

carabao: from Spanish from Visayan language , from Malay language.

caramba: from Spanish ; expression of dread, displeasure, or disapproval, euphemism for carajo ="penis"

carbonado : from carbonada

cargo : from cargo, carga

cassava : from cazabe, from Taino caçábi

caudillo : from caudillo

cedilla : from cedilla

chayote : from Spanish, from Nahuatl chayotl

chicha : from Spanish chicha, from Panama native American language chichab, ="maize"

chicle : from chicle, from Nahautl tzictli

chile : from Spanish chile, from Nahuatl chilli

chipotle : from Spanish, smoked jalapeño, from Nahuatl chilpoctli

chocolate : from Spanish, from Nahuatl xocolatl

churros : from churros

cigar : from Spanish cigarro, from Mayan sicar, sic (="tobacco")

cigarette : from French cigarette, diminutive of French cigare, from Spanish cigarro

cilantro : from Spanish cilantro

coca : from Spanish, from Quechua coca

cocaine : from Spanish, cocaína, from Quechua kúka

cockroach : from Spanish cucaracha

cocoa or cacao : from Spanish cacao, from Nahuatl cacáhuatl

comrade : from French camarade, from Spanish camarada

condor : from Spanish, from Quechua cuntur

conquistador : from conquistador

coquina : from coquina

cordillera : from cordillera

corral : from corral

corrida: a bullfight

coyote : from Spanish coyote, from Nahuatl coyotl

crimson : from Old Spanish cremesín, from Arabic qirmizI, from qirmiz kermes

crusade : blend of Middle French croisade & Spanish cruzada; both ultimately from Latin cruc-, crux cross

cumbia : from cumbia

D

demarcation : from Spanish demarcación, as in demarcation problem or demarcation point

dengue : from Spanish dengue, from Swahili dinga, ="seizure"

desperado : alteration of Spanish desesperado, ="desperate"

don : from Spanish Don, title of respect (as in Don Juan and Don Quixote). Now used for the upper echelon of some British universities.

duende : from Spanish dialect, charm, from Spanish, ghost, goblin, probably from duen de casa, from dueño de casa owner of a house

E

El Dorado : from El Dorado, literally, "the golden one"

embargo : from Spanish embargar ="to bar"

F

fajita : from fajita

fandango : from fandango

fiesta :from Spanish, =festival or holiday

filibuster : from Spanish filibustero, ="pirate", from French flibustier, from Dutch vrijbuiter, ="freebooter"

Filipino, -a : from filipino, -a, belonging or from the Islas Filipinas ="Philippine islands"

flamenco (dance) : from flamenco

flamingo : from Portuguese or Old Spanish flamengo. Current Spanish spelling is flamenco.

flotilla : from flota (="fleet") then flotilla (="little fleet")

frijol : from frijol, bean.

G

gaucho : from Spanish, from Quechua huachu, ="orphan"

gringo : nasalized form of griego, "incomprehensible language" (lit. "greek")

guacamole : from Spanish, from Nahuatl ahuacatl then Spanish aguacate (="avocado") and mole (="mash")

guanaco : from Spanish, from Quechua wanacu

guano : from Spanish, from Quechua huanu, ="dung"

guava : from guaba, guayaba, perhaps from Taino

guerrilla : from guerrilla, "little war"

guitar : from Spanish guitarra

H

hacienda : from hacienda

hammock : from Spanish hamaca, from Arawak

hombre : from hombre

hoosegow: from juzgado =court of law, also past participle of juzgar "to judge".

hurricane : from Spanish huracán, from Taino (from Quiché)

I

Inca : from Spanish inca, from Quechua

incommunicado : from incomunicado

iguana : from Spanish iguana from Arawak

J

jaguar : from Spanish jaguar from Guaraní yaguar

jalapeño: from Spanish, a type of spicy chilli named after Jalapa de Enríquez, a town in Mexico, and the capital of the state of Veracruz

jerky : from Spanish charqui, from Quechua ch'arki, ="dried flesh"

junta or junto: from Spanish junta, a group of leaders, usually military officers in a coup d'état. As an adjective it means "together".

K

key : from Spanish cayo, from Taino (this is English 'key'/'cay'/'quay' as in an island, reef or a linked series of them, not the 'key' with which you lock/unlock)

L

ladino : from ladino

lagniappe : from Louisiana French, from Spanish la ñapa or la yapa, from Quechua yapa, ="help" or "increase"

lasso : from lazo

latino : from latinoamericano, ="Latin American"

llama : from Spanish llama, from Quechua

llano :from Spanish, plains, grassland

loco : from Spanish loco, ="insane", "crazy"

luminaria : from Mexican Spanish

M

machismo : from macho, =male

macho : from macho, =male

maize : from Spanish maíz from Taino mahís

mantilla : from mantilla

maquila : from maquila, ="share of product kept by the miller", from Arabic makīlah, "thing that have been measured"

maquiladora : from maquila

maravedi : from maravedi

margarita : from Margarita (="Margaret"), from Greek "pearl".

mariachi : from Spanish, from French mariage ="marriage", a type of musical group and its players, originally from Mexico

marijuana : from marihuana

maroon : from cimarrón(="wild")

matador : from matador (="killer")

mate : from Spanish, from Quechua mati, ="small squash"

mesa : from mesa, table. The corresponding Spanish word to a flat top mountain is meseta

mescal : from Spanish mezcal, from Nahuatl mexcalli

mestizo : from mestizo

mole : from Spanish, from Nahuatl molli (="sauce")

mosquito : from mosquito, literally "little fly"

mulatto : from Spanish or Portuguese mulato

mustang :from mestengo or mesteño, ="without known master or owner" (archaic)

mustee : from mestizo

N

nacho : from nacho

nada : from nada, = "nothing"

negro : from Spanish or Portuguese negro, ="black"

O

olé : an interjection, an expression of approval or triumph, similar to the Italian bravo, used by spectators of bull fights or football (soccer) (soccer) matches

P

pachuco : from pachuco

palmetto : from palmito

pampa : from Spanish, from Quechua pampa, =plain

papaya : from papaya, akin to Arawak papáia

patio : from patio, inner courtyard, ="an open paved area adjacent to a home"

peccadillo :from pecadillo, ="small sin"

peccary : from Spanish pecarí, from Guaraní

peon : from Spanish peón (="laborer")

peyote : from Spanish, from Nahuatl peyotl (="caterpillar")

Philippines : from Spanish Islas Filipinas ="islands of king Philip II of Spain"

pimento or pimiento : from pimienta

pinta : from pinta

pisco : from pisco

placer mining : from placer, ="sand bank"

platinum : from platina, ="little silver"

playa : from playa

plaza : from plaza

poncho : from poncho, from Araucanian

posada : from posada

potato : from European Spanish patata, itself from batata, = "sweet potato", from Taino and papa, "potato" from Quechua

pronto : from pronto, ="soon"

pronunciamento : from pronunciamiento proclamation, ="military coup d'état", usually establishing a military dictatorship (often a junta)

puma : from Spanish, from Quechua

puna : from puna, from Quechua

Q

quadroon : from cuarterón

quechua : from Spanish, from Quechua qishwa, valley of temperate weather

quesadilla : from quesadilla

quinoa : from Spanish, from Quechua kinua

R

ranch : from rancho

reconquista : from reconquista ="reconquest"

renegade : from renegado

rodeo : from rodeo

rumba : from rumba

S

saguaro : from saguaro, from Piman

salsa : from salsa, "sauce"

sapodilla : from zapotillo

saraband : from French sarabande in turn from Spanish zarabanda

savanna : from zavana, from Taino zabana

suave : from suave, "smooth"

savvy : from Spanish or Portuguese sabe, "knows"

sherry : from Old Spanish Xerés modern Spanish Jerez [xe'ɾeθ

sierra : from sierra

siesta : from siesta

silo : from silo

sombrero : from sombrero, (literally, shade maker)

stampede : from estampida

T

taco : from taco from the Aztecs

tamale : from Spanish tamales, pl. of tamal, from Nahuatl tamalli, dumpling made from corn flour

tango : from tango

tapioca : from tapioca

tequila : from tequila

tilde : from tilde

tiri : from tiro

tobacco: from Spanish tabaco

tomatillo : from Spanish tomatillo, ="small tomate" (see Physalis ixocarpa)

tomato : from Spanish tomate, from Nahuatl xitomatl

toreador : from toreador

torero : from torero

tornado : from tronada, ="thunderstorm"

tortilla : from tortilla (lit. small cake)

tuna : from Spanish atún, from Arabic tun, from Latin thunnus, from Greek θύννος, thynnos (=tuna fish)

turista : from turista ="tourist"

V

vamoose : from vamos

vanilla : from vainilla

vicuña : from Spanish, from Quechua wikunna

Y

yam : from ñame--possibly from Portuguese inhame

yerba mate : from Spanish, ="mate grass" (see also Mate)

See also

• List of Spanish expressions in common English
• List of Spanish words of Indigenous American Indian origin

External links

• Montague, Artur, El elemento español en el vocabulario inglés: prolegómenos a una lista. AIH. Actas IV (1971). (in Spanish)
• Online Etymology Dictionary
• Real Academia Española Spanish dictionary

Etymology | Lists of English words of foreign origin | Spanish terms