The English language has always borrowed words from other languages and incorporated them into its vocabulary, a process that started thousands of years ago and continues today. In the United States, the acquisition of words from Spanish dates back to the acquisition of territory in what is now Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean by Spain. The Spanish-speaking conquerors also gained words that they borrowed from the local Indian peoples. Here are some of those words:

armadillo
The “little armored one” is a mammal with large claws and bony plates instead of fur. Because of these plates, and the animal’s relatively large ears, the Aztec called it a “turtle-rabbit.”

bonanza
In Spanish, this word means “prosperity,” but in English we use it to refer to a large amount of something good or useful, often acquired unexpectedly.

cigar
Tobacco originated in the New World, and this word can be traced back to the Mayan word for that plant, sicar.

guerrilla
The Spanish word for “war” is guerra, and adding the diminutive turns this word into guerrilla, or “small war.” We use this word in English to refer both to small-scale uprisings as well as the locally-based combatants that fight in them.

hurricane
This is the English spelling of the Spanish word huracán, which came from the Caribbean language Arawak, where the word jurakan meant “devil” – an appropriate name for the fierce storms which can bring heavy rains and winds of over 150 miles per hour.

mosquito
Another Spanish diminutive, mosquito means “little fly” (musca).

potato
The potato is another plant originating in the New World, and its English name comes through Spanish (patata) from the Quechua word papa.

renegade
In the Middle Ages, the Moors occupied much of modern-day Spain, and the word renegade referred to someone who had converted from Christianity to Islam. Today, we use this word to describe someone who changes sides and works against the people they were formerly with. (See this post for information on a similar word from the same time period.)