Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Indigenous languages ·1600s
Tomato
from tomatl (Nahuatl)
- Meaning
- The fruit of Solanum lycopersicum.
- Source word
- tomatl (Nahuatl)
- Route into English
- Nahuatl → Spanish *tomate* → Italian *pomodoro* (briefly) → English via *tomate*, with the final -o added by analogy with *potato*.
- Arrived
- 1600s
From Indigenous languages
A loose group: Nahuatl, Taino, Algonquian, Guugu Yimithirr, and others. Colonial contact produced many loans; the speakers were often systematically dispossessed of the land the loanwords described.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.