Spanish Loanwords in English Explained

Spanish loanwords are Spanish words that have been integrated into the English language, whether due to popular culture, immigration, Spanish settlement of the Americas, the proximity of the US to the Mexican border, etc.

Spanish Loanwords in English

• alligator → el lagarto (“the lizard”)
• adobe → adobe (“clay brick”)
• aficionado → aficionado (“fan”)
• armada → armada (“armed”; Spanish navy)
• armadillo → armadillo (“little armed one”)
• barracuda → barracuda
• bodega → bodega (“cellar”)
• buckaroo → vaquero (“cowboy”)
• cafeteria → cafetería (“coffee shop”)
• canyon → cañón
• coyote → coyote
• desperado → desesperado (“desperate”)
• embargo → embargo (“ban”)
• galleon → galeón (“type of ship”)
• guerrilla → guerrilla (“little war”; armed non-military group)
• lasso → lazo (“knot”)
• mosquito → mosquito (“little fly”)
• oregano → orégano
• patio → patio (“courtyard”)
• pronto → pronto (“soon, quick”)
• renegade → renegado (“one who abandons his beliefs”)
• rodeo → rodeo (“from the verb rodear = to go around”)
• vanilla → vainilla
• zorro → zorro (“fox”)

Places

• Florida → Florida (“flowered”)
• Colorado → Colorado (“colored red”)
• Los Angeles → Los Ángeles (“the angels”)
• San Francisco → San Francisco (“Saint Francis”)
• Montana → Montaña (“mountain”)
• Nevada → Nevada (“snow-covered”)
• Santa Fe → Santa Fe (“holy faith”)