Can you name the English words derived from Aztec (Nahuatl)? by rrlemur

Hint	English Word	Derivation
a member of the Canid family		coyōtl
chewing gum		tzictli
what would pizza be without this fruit?		tomatl
a fatty fruit		āhuacatl
chocolate is made from this		cacahuatl
a spear-throwing tool		ahtlatl
seed grain rich in omega-3s (Salvia hispanica)		chiyan
alcohol made from agave		mexcalli

Hint	English Word	Derivation
small house, usually in disrepair
hot pepper		chīlli
ornate bird with a long tail		quetzalli
a desert shrub, good for BBQs		mizquitl
green dip
corn dough steamed in a leaf wrapper		tamalli
psychoactive drug from a cactus		peyōtl
a medium sized neotropical cat		ocēlōtl
Bonus! (āxōlōtl, from ā-, 'water' + xōlōtl, 'male servant')	ocēlōtl
Bonus! (from chayohtli)	ocēlōtl
	ocēlōtl
Bonus! (from copalli)	ocēlōtl
Bonus! (from epazōtl)	ocēlōtl
Bonus! (from mōlli, 'sauce')	ocēlōtl
Bonus! (from nohpalli)	ocēlōtl
Bonus! (from tzapocuahuitl)	ocēlōtl
Bonus! (from tōllin)	ocēlōtl
Also from agave (tequillan)	ocēlōtl

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There are 17 comments for this game.
(Warning: comments may contain spoilers)

Aztec words in English Quiz

by rrlemur

Created Aug 8, 2010 in Language
Game Plays 417

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	chriskotx:	Aug 8th, 2010 at 20:08 GMT		2 points
	Que padre esta prueba! Is "-mole" not related to "moler" (to grind/crush) and "molina" (mill)- both Spanish words? I always thought it was. Tricky, tricky, tricky with that last "fruit/pizza" question! I was typing in "pineapple...pineapple...pineapple"

	rrlemur:	Aug 9th, 2010 at 02:53 GMT		1 point
	Hmmm, 'moler' does seem a likely source of 'mole', but my dictionary nonetheless attributes nahuatl.

	tbwilson:	Aug 12th, 2010 at 15:08 GMT		2 points
	Mole comes from "mulli", the Nahuatl word for sauce... Moles are, in fact, descendents of Aztec cuisine - They're largely based on New World ingredients such as cacao, chili peppers, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, tomatoes, and avocadoes, so it makes sense that the word would come from the Nahuatl root.

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	micah:	Nov 23rd, 2010 at 00:07 GMT		5 points
	IME "tamale" is a more common spelling than "tamal" -- at the very least you should accept it for anyone who types too fast to get preempted.

	FelixtheBear:	Nov 23rd, 2010 at 01:38 GMT		1 point
	Outstanding quiz! Of course, I missed 3 of them because I couldn't spell the word in English

	dan144556:	Nov 23rd, 2010 at 01:43 GMT		2 points
	Where are you getting that "chocolate" is POSSIBLY from "xocolatl"? All my sources say pretty clearly that it does come from "xococ" (sour, bitter) and "atl" (water). By coincidence, I'm actually drinking some hot chocolate right now...Montezuma's delight!

	gnatural:	Nov 23rd, 2010 at 03:25 GMT		2 points
	Tamale is the much more common word, as already mentioned. And "mescal" is a perfectly good alternate spelling (in fact, it's the preferred spelling in Merriam-Webster's Third International, and the _only_ spelling in the 11th Collegiate). (Tamal appears in neither, FYI.)

	loganite:	Nov 23rd, 2010 at 03:33 GMT		2 points
	In Spanish, the proper singular form of the noun is "Tamal." The plural is "Tamales." In English, we seem to have just dropped the "S" from the plural to come up with "Tamale" as the singular.

	TreehuggnCowgirl:	Nov 23rd, 2010 at 06:54 GMT		2 points
	Please also accept mescaline for the psychoactive drug from a cactus. It's the actual psychoactive chemical within peyote (the cactus itself) and is also from mexcalli.

	TreehuggnCowgirl:	Nov 23rd, 2010 at 06:57 GMT		1 point
	Tequila also has its origins in Nahuatl, so please accept it for the alcohol made from agave as well.

	lycey:	Nov 23rd, 2010 at 19:42 GMT		1 point
	Hmm, I thought 'cacao' came to English by way of the Mayan 'kakaw,' but perhaps it passed through Nahuatl first.

	rca:	Nov 23rd, 2010 at 20:19 GMT		1 point
	Good quiz.

	marzoz10:	Nov 25th, 2010 at 21:16 GMT		1 point
	tequila

	rrlemur:	Nov 28th, 2010 at 01:59 GMT		1 point
	Everyone, thanks for the comments and suggestions. I took many of the alternate spelling and answer suggestions (some as bonus). As for chocolate (dan144556), xocolatl itself appears to be the combination of xococ and atl.

	dan144556:	Dec 3rd, 2010 at 21:38 GMT		1 point
	...but doesn't that mean it still comes from Nahuatl? It was the Aztecs that put xococ and atl together, after all.

	rrlemur:	Dec 18th, 2010 at 23:12 GMT		1 point
	@dan: I didn't get your meaning before. "Possibly" refers to the derivation. It is also possibly derived from "chicol", a stick used to make the drink. See Dakin and Wichmann 2000 Ancient Mesoamerica 11:55-75 for discussion.