Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Spanish ·1880s
Enchilada
from enchilada
- Meaning
- A Mexican dish of tortillas rolled around a filling and covered in chilli sauce.
- Source word
- enchilada
- Route into English
- Mexican Spanish *enchilada* (past participle of *enchilar*, to season with chilli) → English via Tex-Mex in the early 20th century. The idiom "the whole enchilada" dates to 1960s US slang.
- Arrived
- 1880s
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.