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burrito

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word burrito

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1577 a document from Mexico More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origin
Latin burricus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Spanish burro
Spanish burrito
English burrito

Pronunciation

  • /buˈrito/, [buˈri.t̪o][1]

Forms

burrito m (plural burritos)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish burro + -ito, the diminutive of the word for “donkey”.[2][1][3] burro is a back-formation from borrico, which goes back to Latin burricus (“small horse”).[4][1]

Why the rolled tortilla was called “little donkey” is not recorded;[5] Etymonline suggests that the first, flat kind was seen as carrying something on its back.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The diminutive is first recorded in Mexico in 1577, for a water-carrying donkey of the Franciscan convent: the burrito aguador.[6] In Spain the CDH's first hit is a tonadilla of 1771, Burro, burrito, estate quieto.[7]

Semantic evolution

Mexican Spanish gave the diminutive several transferred senses.[8][9] Ramos y Duarte records it in Guanajuato for a rolled tortilla with meat or another filling, which was called taco in Cuernavaca and Mexico City.[8] Santamaría lists the same food in the state of Guerrero, together with a fringe of hair worn by women about half a century before, a tailor's sleeve board, a stand for a saddle and a small wooden yoke for carrying water.[9][10]

The DRAE of 2001 marked the dish as Mexican; the DLE now describes it as a large wheat tortilla filled with meat, beans, vegetables or cheese, typical of Mexican cooking, and Vox places it in northern Mexico.[11][2][12] In Mexico and Central America it can also be a small fried taco of corn tortilla, and in Argentina it names a shrub used for herbal tea.[13] English borrowed the name of the dish by 1934, and it passed into German and Dutch.[5][1]

Timeline

  • 1577 – first record of the diminutive, in Mexico (burrito aguador).[6]
  • 1771 – a Spanish tonadilla, El juego del burro, uses it for a donkey.[7]
  • 1816–1827 – Fernández de Lizardi plays on burritos for dull students.[7]
  • 1898 – a dictionary of Mexicanisms describes both a flat and a rolled burrito.[5]
  • 1916 – Juan Ramón Jiménez calls Platero mi burrito de plata.[7]
  • 1934 – the English word is first recorded.[5]
  • 2001 – the DRAE includes the dish as a Mexicanism.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A burrito: a large wheat-flour tortilla rolled around meat, beans, vegetables or cheese, typical of Mexican cooking.[2][1][12]
  2. (Mexico, Central America) A small fried taco of corn tortilla filled with beans, meat and vegetables.[13]
  3. Diminutive of burro: a little donkey: El niño montaba un burrito gris.[1][6]
  4. (Bolivia) A walking frame for people who have difficulty walking.[2]
  5. (Argentina) A shrub, Aloysia polystachya, whose leaves are drunk as an infusion for stomach complaints.[13][1]
  6. (Mexico, dated) A fringe of hair, flequillo.[14][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. burrito
  3. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. burro
  5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. burrito
  7. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. burrito
  8. ^ a b Ramos y Duarte, Félix (1895), Diccionario de mejicanismos, México: Imprenta de Eduardo Dublán, p. 98
  9. ^ a b c Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 241
  10. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1959), Diccionario de mejicanismos, México: Porrúa, p. 157
  11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. burrito
  12. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. burrito
  13. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. burrito
  14. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. burrito

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Burrito.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/burrito. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·