List of English words of Portuguese origin
# 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.
