Where does “Anguila” come from?

Anguila (Portuguese) comes from Italian anguilla, from Latin anguilla, from Proto-Italic *anɣʷis, from Proto-Indo-European h₂éngʷʰis — snake.

Ancestry of “Anguila”, step by step

Anguila traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Italian anguilla

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Italiananguillaeel
2Latinanguillaeel; small snake; vocative singular of anguilla
3Proto-Italic*anɣʷissnake
4Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂éngʷʰissnake

via Spanish anguila

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Spanishanguilaeel
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂éngʷʰis →Every word from Proto-Italic *anɣʷis →Every word from Latin anguilla →