French words from Spanish
8 French words with Spanish in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
alcôve
It is borrowed from Spanish alcoba, from Arabic القبة (al-qubba, “the dome, vaulted room”), with the Arabic article ال (al-). The Spanish word meant a place for public weighing (1202), then a dome…
chocolat
It is borrowed from Spanish chocolate (1590; “chocollatl” about 1580), itself from Nahuatl chocolātl, a Nahuatl word of Mexico whose formation is hard to analyse except for the ending “-atl”…
cigare
It is borrowed from Spanish cigarro (about 1610), whose origin is uncertain. Bloch and Wartburg, the FEW and the REW take it from a Maya verb Yucatec Maya zicar (“to smoke”); others from cigarra…
créole
It is borrowed from Spanish criollo (from 1590), itself from Portuguese crioulo, recorded in 1632 for a black person born in Brazil but probably first “servant brought up in the master's house”; Old…
écoutille
It is borrowed from Spanish escotilla (“hatchway”) (1431–1450), a derivative of escotar (“to cut a neckline”), or of escote (“neckline, opening in a garment”) according to Bloch and Wartburg…
guitare
It is borrowed from Spanish guitarra (about 1330), borrowed from Arabic قيثارة (qīṯāra), itself from Ancient Greek κιθάρα (kithára, “cithara, lyre”). Rey says the Arabic step is only probable, and…
mayonnaise
The origin is disputed. It is most often derived from the name of Port-Mahon, from Spanish Mahón, capital of Minorca, in memory of its capture by the Duke of Richelieu in 1756; tradition has it that…
quadrille
It is borrowed from Spanish cuadrilla (“troop, team, company”), recorded in Spanish from 1546 in these senses and earlier (13th century) for the division of an army into four parts to share the…