Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Spanish ·1930s
Jalapeño
from jalapeño
- Meaning
- A medium-hot green chilli pepper.
- Source word
- jalapeño
- Route into English
- Mexican Spanish *jalapeño* (from Jalapa, now Xalapa, in Veracruz, Mexico) → English with the tilde preserved in careful writing. The pepper is named for its city of origin.
- Arrived
- 1930s
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.