Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Spanish ·1820s
Lasso
from lazo
- Meaning
- A looped rope used to catch cattle and horses.
- Source word
- lazo
- Route into English
- Spanish *lazo* (snare, from Latin *laqueus*) → American English in the 1820s via Texas and California ranching. The "ss" spelling was added in English to reinforce the second-syllable stress.
- Arrived
- 1820s
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.