Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Indigenous languages ·1750s
Coyote
from coyotl
- Meaning
- The North American wild canid *Canis latrans*.
- Source word
- coyotl
- Route into English
- Nahuatl *coyotl* → Mexican Spanish *coyote* → American English via the Southwest. Shares its origin route with *tomato*, *chocolate*, and *avocado* — Nahuatl via Spanish.
- Arrived
- 1750s
From Indigenous languages
A loose group: Nahuatl, Taino, Algonquian, Guugu Yimithirr, and others. Colonial contact produced many loans; the speakers were often systematically dispossessed of the land the loanwords described.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.