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, 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

*aguacate (nahuatl "awakatl")
*ajolote (nahuatl "axololtl")
*alpaca
*amate (nahuatl "amatl")
*ambú
*atole (nahuatl "atolli")

B

*barbacoa
*batata
*bejuco
*biznaga
*bohío
*boricua
*borinqueño

C

*cacahuate/cacahuete (nahuatl "kakawatl")
*cacao (nahuatl)
*cacique
*cacomistle, cacomiztle, cacomixtle (nahuatl "kakomixtli")
*caimán
*calpulli (nahuatl "kalpulli")
*camelo
*camote (nahuatl "camohtli")
*campechano
*cancha (quechua)
*caníbal
*canoa
*caoba
*capulín
*caraota
*caribe
*caribú
*carioca
*caraqueño
*catre
*caucho
*casabe, cazabe
*ceiba
*chacra
*chayote (nahuatl "chayotl")
*chía
*chicle (nahuatl "tsikitl")
*chichimeca (nahuatl "chichimeca")
*chilacayote (nahuatl)
*chile, chili (nahuatl "chilli")
*Chile
*chileno
*chinchilla
*chirimoya
*choclo (ear of corn)
*chocolate (nahuatl "chocolatl")
*cigarro
*coyote (nahuatl "coyotl")
*cuate

E

*ejote
*elote

G

*gaucho
*guacamaya, guacamayo
*guacamole
*guaco, huaco
*guagua (child)
*guajolote
*guarábana
*guanaco
*guano
*guaraní
*guayaba
*guineo
*güiro

H

*hamaca
*henequén
*hicaco
*hule
*huracán

I

*iguana
*inca
*ixtle

J

*jacal
*jaguar
*jíbaro
*jícama
*jícara
*jitomate
*jobo

L

*lempira
*loro
*llama (animal)

M

*macana
*macanudo
*maguey
*maiz
*mamey
*mangle
*maní
*maraca
*maracuyá
*mate (drink)
*maya
*mecate
*mesquite
*milpa
*mixteco
*mole (sauce)

N

*nahua
*náhuatl
*nana
*nene
*nigua
*nopal

Ñ

*ñandú
*ñapa, yapa

O

*ocelote
*ocote
*olmeca

P

*palta
*pampa
*papa
*papaya
*patata
*pécari
*petaca
*petate
*pinole
*poroto
*potosí
*pozole
*pulque
*puma

Q

*quechua
*quetzal
*quiltro
*quisqueyano

*sabana
*sonsote, cenzotle
*soroche

T

*tabaco
*taco
*tamal
*tamandua
*tapioca
*tapir
*tarahumara
*tequila
*tiburón
*tiza
*tolteca
*tomate
*tucán
*tuna

V

*vicuña

Y

*yuca

Z

*zacate
*zapallo
*zapote
*zapoteca
*zarigüeya
*zopilote =List by language of origin=

=Arawakan=

=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 = adj, having a dark color, sometimes with the connotation of dirty

Nahuatl

Quechua

Tarahumara

Tupi

=Yaqui=

*buqui = boy/child
*bichi = nude

uncertain derivation

=See also=
*Linguistic history of Spanish
*List of English words of Spanish origin

=References=
*"Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española" by Guido Gómez de Silva (ISBN 968-16-2812-8)