Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “tamales” come from?

Tamales comes from Spanish tamales, from Spanish tamal, from Nahuatl tamalli, a Mesoamerican food made from masa dough.

tamales (English): plural of tamale

Definitions

  1. plural of tamale

Ancestry of “tamales”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Spanishtamalesplural of tamal
2Spanishtamaltamal, tamale; bundle, clumsy package;...
3Nahuatltamalliwrapped

Words derived from “tamales”

  • tamale
Every word from Nahuatl tamalli →