Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Spanish ·1600s
Embargo
from embargo
- Meaning
- A government ban on trade.
- Source word
- embargo
- Route into English
- Spanish *embargo* (impediment, from *embargar*, to impede) → English. Originally a commercial-legal term for a ship held in port; now generalised to any trade restriction.
- Arrived
- 1600s
From Spanish
American Spanish, not peninsular Spanish, provided most of the modern loanwords — through US expansion westward and Latin American trade.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.