Spanish words from Quechua

5 Spanish words with Quechua in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.

• carpa

  1. The word for the fish is inherited from Late Latin carpa, which is recorded once in Latin, in Cassiodorus in the 6th century. The DLE takes the Late Latin word from Gothic *karpa. Corominas calls…

• charqui

  It is most often explained as borrowed from Quechua charki (“dried meat”), a word the DLE and the DAMER write ch'arki. Friederici lists it as a Quechua word that also passed as a loan into…

• mote

  1. The word for the nickname or motto is borrowed from Old Occitan mot (“word, saying”) or Old French mot. Corominas thinks that the literary senses, “satirical saying” and “short song”, were most…

• patata

  It is a blend, from Spanish papa (“potato”) + batata (“sweet potato”), according to the Academy's dictionary, Corominas, Moliner and Bénaben. papa is from Quechua papa, and batata is a word of the…

• puma

  It is borrowed from Quechua puma (“puma, American lion”). In Quechua the word named the American lion and, more generally, any fierce animal or a harsh, cruel man. It is also Aymara. Corominas notes…

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