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Nahuatl Much of English is made up of words from other languages, and Nahuatl is a small but significant contributor in this respect, especially in the matter of cuisine. The word Nahuatl itself shows some of the distinctive structure of the language, but most loanwords have been modified in their journey through other languages (especially Spanish) to English, and less obviously indicate their Central American origins. Chocolate, for example, goes back to Nahuatl chocolatl "bitter water," but lost its distinctive ending on its way through Spanish, and perhaps also French; avocado started out as Nahuatl ahuacatl, literally "testicle" (because of the shape of the fruit), but became aguacate in Spanish before assuming its familiar form; cacao (later also to be altered to cocoa) came via a Spanish shortening of Nahuatl cacauatl "cacao tree"; tomato is an alteration of Spanish tomate from Nahuatl tomatl. Other culinary terms with a Nahuatl ancestry include chili, guacamole, mole, pulque, and tamale. Chewing gum would be unknown without its main ingredient chicle (via American Spanish from Nahuatl tzictli).
Numerous New World animals and birds that were unfamiliar to Europeans naturally acquired names from Nahuatl: cacomistle, coyote, hoatzin, ocelot, and quetzal, for example. Names of indigenous peoples were also adopted from Nahuatl: Aztec (via French Aztèque or Spanish Azteca from Nahuatl aztecatl "somebody from Aztlan"), Mixtec (via Spanish from Nahuatl mixtecah "somebody from a cloudy place"), and Toltec (via Spanish from Nahuatl toltecatl "somebody from Tula," an ancient Toltec city).
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