Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Spanish ·1810s
Guerrilla
from guerrilla — "little war"
- Meaning
- Diminutive of *guerra* (war).
- Source word
- guerrilla — "little war"
- Route into English
- Entered English during the Peninsular War (1807–14), when Spanish irregular fighters harassed Napoleon's armies. The meaning transferred from the fighters to the tactic.
- Arrived
- 1810s
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.