title: List of English words of Portuguese origin
text: # List of English words of Portuguese origin
  
  This is a list of English words borrowed or derived from Portuguese (or Galician-Portuguese). The list also includes words derived from other languages via Portuguese during and after the Age of Discovery. In other Romance language their imports from Portuguese are often, in a creative shorthand, called lusitanianisms a word which has fallen out of use in English linguistics as etymologists stress that few additions to any non-Iberian Peninsula languages date to the era when the Lusitanian language was spoken. Loan-words and derivations predominantly date to the Age of Discovery when the Portuguese spoken at sea was, according to many accounts, the most widely understood tongue (lingua franca) of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.
  
  ## A-E
  
  ### Açaí
  
      from Portuguese açaí, from Tupi-Guarani asaí
  
  ### Ainhum
  
      from Portuguese, based on Yoruba eyun 'saw'
  
  ### Albacore
  
      from albacor from Arabic بكورة al-bukr (= "the young camels")
  
  ### Albatross
  
      an alteration of albatroz, under influence of the Latin word albus ("white")
  
  ### Albino
  
      from albino, with the same meaning, from Latin albus
  
  ### Amah
  
      from Portuguese ama, nurse, housemaid, from Medieval Latin amma, mother
  
  ### Anhinga
  
      from Portuguese, from Tupi áyinga
  
  ### Anil
  
      from anil, through French, via Arabic النيل al-nili and Persian نیلا nila; ultimately from Sanskrit नीली nili (= "indigo)
  
  ### Auto-da-fé
  
      a judicial 'act' or sentence of the Inquisition from auto da fé (= "act/sentence of faith")
  
  ### Ayah
  
      Anglo-Indian native nurse, children's governess from Port. aia, originally from Latin avia (grandmother). Etymogically related to English "uncle"
  
  ### Banana
  
      from Portuguese, of African origin; akin to Wolof banäna banana
  
  ### Banyan
  
      from Portuguese, from Gujarati vāṇiyo, from Sanskrit "vaṇij"
  
  ### Baroque
  
      from barroco (adj. = "unshapely")
  
  ### Bossa nova
  
      (= "new trend" or "new wave")
  
  ### Breeze
  
      probably from Old Spanish and Portuguese briza 'northeastern wind
  
  ### Bual
  
      from boal
  
  ### Buccaneer
  
      from French boucanier, from boucaner, ("to cure meat"), from boucan, ("barbecue frame"), of Tupian origin, mukém, ("rack"), via Portuguese moquém.
  
  ### Buffalo
  
      from Portuguese búfalo, from late Latin bufalus, from Greek boubalos 'antelope, wild ox'
  
  ### Cachalot
  
      from Portuguese cachalote (same meaning), probably via Spanish or French. The Portuguese word comes from cachola ("head" or "big head")
  
  ### Cachou
  
      from French, from Portuguese cachu, from Malay kacu
  
  ### Caipirinha
  
      alcoholic cocktail from Brazil spread throughout the world consisting of lime, sugar, cachaça and ice
  
  ### Capoeira
  
      a popular Brazilian dance of African origin incorporating martial arts movements
  
  ### Carambola
  
      Star fruit - Portuguese, perhaps from Marathi कराम्बल karambal
  
  ### Caramel
  
      via French and Spanish, from Portuguese caramelo, 'caramel', from Late Latin calamellus. Typical Portuguese rhotacism of the letter "L".
  
  ### Caravel
  
      from caravela
  
  ### Carbonado
  
      from Portuguese
  
  ### Carnauba
  
      from carnaúba
  
  ### Cashew
  
      from caju (a tropical fruit)
  
  ### Caste
  
      from casta (= "class")
  
  ### Cobra
  
      shortening of cobra-de-capelo, with the same meaning (literally, "snake [cobra] with a hood")
  
  ### Coconut
  
      from coco + nut
  
  ### Commando
  
      from comando 'command'
  
  ### Cougar
  
      from French couguar, from Portuguese suçuarana, perhaps from Tupian sɨwasuarána or Guaraní guaçu ara.
  
  ### Creole
  
      French créole, from Castilian Spanish criollo, person native to a locality, from Portuguese crioulo, diminutive of cria, ("'person raised in one's house with no blood relation, a servant'"), < Portuguese criar ("'to rear, to raise, to bring up'"), from Latin creare, to beget; < Latin creo ("'to create'"), which came into English via French between 1595 and 1605. [same root as creature]
  
  ### Cuspidor
  
      from Portuguese, spitter, from cuspir 'to spit'
  
  ### Dodo
  
      According to Encarta Dictionary and Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, "dodo" comes from Portuguese doudo (currently, more often, doido) meaning "fool" or "crazy". The present Portuguese word dodô ("dodo") is of English origin. The Portuguese word doudo or doido may itself be a loanword from Old English (cp. English "dolt")
  
  ### Embarrass
  
      from Portuguese embaraçar (same meaning; also to tangle - string or rope), from em + baraço (archaic for "rope")
  
  ### Emu
  
      from ema (= "rhea")
  
  ## F-N
  
  ### Farofa
  
      typical dish of Brazil
  
  ### Feijoada
  
      typical Portuguese and Brazilian stew. Used during the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
  
  ### Fetish
  
      from French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço ("charm", "sorcery", "spell"), from Latin factitius or feticius ("artificial")
  
  ### Flamingo
  
      from Portuguese flamingo, from Spanish flamenco
  
  ### Genipapo
  
      from Portuguese jenipapo, from Tupi
  
  ### Grouper
  
      from garoupa
  
  ### Guarana
  
      from Portuguese guaraná, from Tupi warana
  
  ### Igarapé
  
      from Tupi : Area with trees near of rivers with the roots in the water.
  
  ### Indigo
  
      from Spanish indico, Portuguese endego, and Dutch (via Portuguese) indigo, from Latin indicum, from Greek indikon 'blue dye from India'
  
  ### Jacaranda
  
      from Tupi yakaranda.
  
  ### Jackfruit
  
      from Portuguese jaca, from Malayalam chakka + fruit
  
  ### Jaggery
  
      from Portuguese xagara, jag(a)ra, from Tamil cakkarai, from Malayalam cakkarā, from Sanskrit śarkarā
  
  ### Jaguar
  
      from Tupi or Guaraní jaguarete via Portuguese
  
  ### Junk
  
      from junco, from Javanese djong (Malay adjong).
  
  ### Konpeitō
  
      Japanese sweets, from the Portuguese confeito (sugar candy)
  
  ### Labrador
  
      from the name of Portuguese explorer João Fernandes Lavrador, the surname meaning "landowner" or "farmer".
  
  ### Lacquer
  
      from French lacre, from Portuguese lacre, from Arabic lakk, from Persian lak
  
  ### Lambada
  
      from lambada (="beating, lashing")
  
  ### Lascar
  
      from Portuguese lascari, from Urdu and Persian laškarī 'soldier', from laškar 'army'.
  
  ### Launch
  
      from Portuguese lancha, from Malay lancharan 'boat'.
  
  ### Lingo
  
      perhaps from Old Portuguese lingoa, today's língua, ("language", "tongue") related to Old Provençal lengo, lingo. Or perhaps, from Polari slang, ultimately from Italian lingua franca. Polari is a distinctive English argot in use since at least the 18th century among groups of theatrical and circus performers and in certain homosexual communities, derived largely from Italian, directly or through Lingua Franca. Sailors' expressions from the 16th century passed on to 19th century English 'gay' culture, and vaudeville theatrical world, including words derived from a variety of sources such as Italian, Romani, Yiddish, and British rhyming slang.
  
  ### Macaque
  
      from macaco, through French
  
  ### Macaw
  
      from macau; ultimately from Tupi macavuana.
  
  ### Mandarin
  
      from mandarim, from the Malay mantri, from Hindi मंत्री matri, from Sanskrit मन्त्रिन् mantrin (="counsellor")
  
  ### Mango
  
      from manga, via Malay mangga, ultimately from Malayalam മാങ്ങ māṅṅa or from Tamil மாங்காய் mānkāy
  
  ### Mangrove
  
      probably from Portuguese mangue mangrove (from Spanish mangle, probably from Taino) + English grove
  
  ### Manioc
  
      from mandioca (="cassava") from Tupi mandioca.
  
  ### Maraca
  
      from maracá from Tupi
  
  ### Marimba
  
      from Portuguese, of Bantu origin; akin to Kimbundu ma-rimba : ma-, pl. n. pref. + rimba, xylophone, hand piano
  
  ### Marmalade
  
      from marmelada, a preserve made from marmelo (="quince")
  
  ### Molasses
  
      from melaço (="treacle")
  
  ### Monsoon
  
      from monção
  
  ### Mosquito
  
      from Mosquito meaning 'little fly'
  
  ### Mulatto
  
      Portuguese mulato. From mula (=mule) a cross between a horse and a donkey or from the Arabic term muwallad, which means "a person of mixed ancestry"
  
  ### Negro
  
      Negro means "black" in Spanish and Portuguese being from the Latin word niger (Dative nigro, Accusative nigrum) and the Greek word Νέγρος Negros both of the same meaning. It came to English through the Portuguese and Spanish slave trade. Prior to the 1970s, it was the dominant term for Black people of African origin; in most English language contexts (except its inclusion in the names of some organizations founded when the term had currency, e.g. the United Negro College Fund), it is now considered either archaic or a slur.
  
  ## P-Z
  
  ### Pagoda
  
      from pagode; corruption of Persian بوتکاتا butkata (+"idol deity")
  
  ### Palanquin
  
      from Portuguese palanquim, from Oriya pālaṅki
  
  ### Palaver
  
      a chat, from palavra (="word"), Portuguese palavra (word), parabola (parable), speech (current fala, discurso), chat (current bate-papo, papo, palavrinha, conversa and also Eng. chat) alteration of Late Latin parabola, speech, parable.
  
  ### Pickaninny
  
      from pequenina (="little one") or pequeninha (="toddler")
  
  ### Piranha
  
      from piranha (=piranha), from Tupi pirá ("fish") + ánha ("cut")
  
  ### Pomfret
  
      from Portuguese pampo
  
  ### Potato
  
      from "batata"
  
  ### Ramkie
  
      from Afrikaans, from Nama rangi-b, perhaps from Portuguese rabequinha diminutive of rabeca 'fiddle'
  
  ### Rapadura
  
      from Portuguese raspar
  
  ### Sablefish
  
      from sável (="shad," "whitefish")
  
  ### Samba
  
      from samba ; ultimately of Angolan origin, semba
  
  ### Sargasso
  
      from sargaço (="sargasso")
  
  ### Savvy
  
      from sabe he knows, from saber to know
  
  ### Serval
  
      from French, from Portuguese (lobo-)cerval 'Iberian lynx', from Latin cervarius
  
  ### Stevedore
  
      from estivador (="stevedore")
  
  ### Talapoin
  
      from French, from Portuguese talapão
  
  ### Tank
  
      from tanque
  
  ### Tapioca
  
      from tapioca
  
  ### Teak
  
      from teca
  
  ### Tempura
  
      Japanese 天麩羅, tenpura?, also written as "天ぷら", from Portuguese têmporas, (=Ember Days)
  
  ### Verandah
  
      from varanda (="balcony" or "railing"), from Hindi वरांडा varanda or Bengali baranda
  
  ### Vindaloo
  
      probably from Portuguese vin d'alho 'wine and garlic (sauce)', from vinho 'wine' + alho 'garlic' or possibly from vinagre 'vinegar' + alho 'garlic'
  
  ### Yam
  
      from inhame or Spanish ñame from West African nyama (="eat")
  
  ### Zebra
  
      from zebra (same meaning), which started as the feminine form of zebro (a kind of deer), from vulgar Latin eciferus, classical Latin EQUIFERVS.
  
  ### Zombie
  
      from the word "zumbi", first recorded in 1819 in a history of Brazil by the poet Robert Southey. This word is given West African origin by the Oxford English Dictionary, and was incorporated into the Portuguese language by interaction with African slaves in Brazil.
  