Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Spanish ·1900s
Taco
from taco
- Meaning
- A filled tortilla.
- Source word
- taco
- Route into English
- Mexican Spanish *taco* (a plug, a wad) → American English via 20th-century Mexican-American restaurants. The earliest recorded English use is 1905; Taco Bell launched in 1962 and globalised the word.
- Arrived
- 1900s
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.