English words from Indigenous languages of the Americas
Many animal, food and place names across North and South America come from the languages of the people who were there first, often reshaped by European ears.
- Alaska
"Alaska" comes from the Aleut word "alaxsxaq," which roughly translates to "the mainland" or, more literally, "the object toward which the action of the sea is directed." Russian explorers picked up the term from Aleut speakers in the 18th century, and it…
From the Mon, Sep 14, 2026 roundup → - Avocado
The avocado's name traces to a Nahuatl word for the fruit that, thanks to its shape (and the way they tend to hang in pairs), also doubled as slang for a part of male anatomy in the language of the Aztecs. That's a real linguistic footnote — but it's often…
From the Sat, Aug 15, 2026 roundup → - Canoe
When Columbus reached the Caribbean in 1492, he needed a word for the Taíno people's dugout boats, unlike anything used in Europe. He recorded the Arawakan canaoua, which became Spanish canoa and then English "canoe." It's one of the very first words from the…
From the Sun, Sep 6, 2026 roundup → - Caribbean
When Spanish, French, and English sailors began charting the islands in the 16th century, they took the name directly from the Carib people who lived across much of the eastern islands, seafaring communities whose own name the Spanish rendered as "Caribe."…
From the Fri, Sep 18, 2026 roundup → - Hammock
On November 3, 1492, three weeks after his first landfall, Columbus noted in his journal that people paddled out to the ships to trade cotton and "nets in which they sleep," and he wrote down the Taíno word for them: hamacas. Spanish took the word straight…
From the Wed, Sep 30, 2026 roundup → - Igloo
An igloo isn't specifically a snow house in its own language — Inuktitut iglu just means "house," full stop, whether it's built from snow, sod, driftwood, or modern lumber. English explorers borrowed the word in the 1850s and narrowed it specifically to the…
From the Fri, Aug 14, 2026 roundup → - Iguana
English borrowed "iguana" from Spanish, which had in turn borrowed it from a Taíno or other Arawakan word used by Caribbean islanders long before Columbus ever arrived — one of a handful of everyday English words (see also: hurricane, canoe, barbecue) that…
From the Thu, Aug 27, 2026 roundup → - Kayak
English adopted "kayak" essentially unchanged from an Inuit word, qajaq, meaning roughly "man's boat" or "hunter's boat." Traditional versions were built by stretching sealskin or other animal hides over a wood or whalebone frame — a design so effective for…
From the Tue, Aug 25, 2026 roundup → - Ohio
The Seneca called the river "ohi:yo'," meaning "good river," and applied the name to the Allegheny as well, which they regarded as the same stream rather than a tributary. French explorers translated it as "la Belle Rivière." When the territory north of the…
From the Mon, Sep 28, 2026 roundup → - Opossum
North America's only marsupial owes its English name to a Powhatan word, recorded by English colonist John Smith around 1612 during his time in the Chesapeake Bay region. It translates roughly to "white animal" — a fairly literal description of the "opossum,"…
From the Wed, Sep 2, 2026 roundup → - Raccoon
English borrowed "raccoon" almost directly from a Powhatan word, recorded by early Virginia colonists in forms like aroughcun, that roughly translates to "one who rubs, scrubs, and scratches with its hands" — a fittingly precise description for an animal…
From the Sat, Aug 22, 2026 roundup → - Sequoia
The towering redwood species native to California carries the name "Sequoia" in honor of Sequoyah, a Cherokee silversmith who — with no background in writing systems and reportedly unable to read English himself — single-handedly devised a complete syllabary…
From the Sat, Aug 29, 2026 roundup → - Yellowstone
The Hidatsa called the river "Mi tsi a-da-zi," roughly "yellow rock river," most likely for the sandstone bluffs along its lower reaches rather than the canyon walls in the park. French trappers translated it as "Roche Jaune," and Lewis and Clark wrote down…
From the Mon, Sep 21, 2026 roundup → - Yosemite
In 1851, the Mariposa Battalion, a California state militia, entered the valley while pursuing the Ahwahneechee people who lived there. Lafayette Bunnell, the battalion's doctor, proposed naming the valley after what he understood to be the tribe's name…
From the Wed, Sep 16, 2026 roundup → - Yukon
On August 1, 1845, Hudson's Bay Company trader John Bell wrote to his superiors that after "much trouble and difficulties" he had finally reached the "Youcon, or white water River, so named by the natives from the pale colour of its water." The Gwich'in…
From the Sun, Sep 27, 2026 roundup →