Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Spanish ·1560s
Alligator
from el lagarto
- Meaning
- A large aquatic reptile of the *Alligator* genus.
- Source word
- el lagarto
- Route into English
- Spanish *el lagarto* (the lizard) → English via 16th-century Spanish-language accounts of the American South. English mashed the article and noun into a single word, which is why the *l-* is doubled.
- Arrived
- 1560s
From Spanish
American Spanish, not peninsular Spanish, provided most of the modern loanwords — through US expansion westward and Latin American trade.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.