List of English words of Portuguese origin

This is a list of English words borrowed or derived from Portuguese (or Galician-Portuguese). The list also includes words derived from other languages via Portuguese during and after the Age of Discovery. In other Romance language their imports from Portuguese are often, in a creative shorthand, called lusitanianisms a word which has fallen out of use in English linguistics as etymologists stress that few additions to any non-Iberian Peninsula languages date to the era when the Lusitanian language was spoken. Loan-words and derivations predominantly date to the Age of Discovery when the Portuguese spoken at sea was, according to many accounts, the most widely understood tongue (lingua franca) of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.

A-E

 * Açaí :from Portuguese açaí, from Tupi-Guarani asaí
 * Ainhum :from Portuguese, based on Yoruba eyun 'saw'
 * Albacore :from albacor from Arabic بكورة al-bukr (= "the young camels")
 * Albatross :an alteration of albatroz, under influence of the Latin word albus ("white")
 * Albino :from albino, with the same meaning, from Latin albus
 * Amah : from Portuguese ama, nurse, housemaid, from Medieval Latin amma, mother
 * Anhinga :from Portuguese, from Tupi áyinga
 * Anil : from anil, through French, via Arabic النيل al-nili and Persian نیلا nila; ultimately from Sanskrit नीली nili (= "indigo)
 * Auto-da-fé : a judicial 'act' or sentence of the Inquisition from auto da fé (= "act/sentence of faith")
 * Ayah : Anglo-Indian native nurse, children's governess from Port. aia, originally from Latin avia (grandmother). Etymogically related to English "uncle"
 * Banana :from Portuguese, of African origin; akin to Wolof banäna banana
 * Banyan :from Portuguese, from Gujarati vāṇiyo, from Sanskrit "vaṇij"
 * Baroque : from barroco (adj. = "unshapely")
 * Bossa nova :(= "new trend" or "new wave")
 * Breeze :probably from Old Spanish and Portuguese briza 'northeastern wind
 * Bual :from boal
 * Buccaneer: from French boucanier, from boucaner, ("to cure meat"), from boucan, ("barbecue frame"), of Tupian origin, mukém, ("rack"), via Portuguese moquém.
 * Buffalo :from Portuguese búfalo, from late Latin bufalus, from Greek boubalos 'antelope, wild ox'
 * Cachalot : from Portuguese cachalote (same meaning), probably via Spanish or French. The Portuguese word comes from cachola ("head" or "big head")
 * Cachou :from French, from Portuguese cachu, from Malay kacu
 * Caipirinha:alcoholic cocktail from Brazil spread throughout the world consisting of lime, sugar, cachaça and ice
 * Capoeira: a popular Brazilian dance of African origin incorporating martial arts movements
 * Carambola: Star fruit – Portuguese, perhaps from Marathi कराम्बल karambal
 * Caramel : via French and Spanish, from Portuguese caramelo, 'caramel', from Late Latin calamellus. Typical Portuguese rhotacism of the letter "L".
 * Caravel :from caravela
 * Carbonado :from Portuguese
 * Carnauba :from carnaúba
 * Cashew :from caju (a tropical fruit)
 * Caste : from casta (= "class")
 * Cobra : shortening of cobra-de-capelo, with the same meaning (literally, "snake [cobra] with a hood")
 * Coconut : from coco + nut
 * Commando : from comando 'command'
 * Cougar : from French couguar, from Portuguese suçuarana, perhaps from Tupian sɨwasuarána or Guaraní guaçu ara.
 * Creole : French créole, from Castilian Spanish criollo, person native to a locality, from Portuguese crioulo, diminutive of cria, ("'person raised in one's house with no blood relation, a servant'"), < Portuguese criar ("'to rear, to raise, to bring up'"), from Latin creare, to beget; < Latin creo ("'to create'"), which came into English via French between 1595 and 1605. [same root as creature]
 * Cuspidor :from Portuguese, spitter, from cuspir 'to spit'
 * Dodo :According to Encarta Dictionary and Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, "dodo" comes from Portuguese doudo (currently, more often, doido) meaning "fool" or "crazy". The present Portuguese word dodô ("dodo") is of English origin. The Portuguese word doudo or doido may itself be a loanword from Old English (cp. English "dolt")
 * Embarrass : from Portuguese embaraçar (same meaning; also to tangle – string or rope), from em + baraço (archaic for "rope")
 * Emu :from ema (= "rhea")

F-N

 * Farofa : typical dish of Brazil
 * Feijoada : typical Portuguese and Brazilian stew. Used during the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
 * Fetish : from French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço ("charm", "sorcery", "spell"), from Latin factitius or feticius ("artificial")
 * Flamingo :from Portuguese flamingo, from Spanish flamenco
 * Genipapo :from Portuguese jenipapo, from Tupi
 * Grouper :from garoupa
 * Guarana :from Portuguese guaraná, from Tupi warana
 * Igarapé : from Tupi : Area with trees near of rivers with the roots in the water.
 * Indigo :from Spanish indico, Portuguese endego, and Dutch (via Portuguese) indigo, from Latin indicum, from Greek indikon 'blue dye from India'
 * Jacaranda :from Tupi yakaranda.
 * Jackfruit :from Portuguese jaca, from Malayalam chakka + fruit
 * Jaggery :from Portuguese xagara, jag(a)ra, from Tamil cakkarai, from Malayalam cakkarā, from Sanskrit śarkarā
 * Jaguar :from Tupi or Guaraní jaguarete via Portuguese
 * Junk :from junco, from Javanese djong (Malay adjong).
 * Konpeitō: Japanese sweets, from the Portuguese confeito (sugar candy)
 * Labrador :from the name of Portuguese explorer João Fernandes Lavrador, the surname meaning "landowner" or "farmer".
 * Lacquer :from French lacre, from Portuguese lacre, from Arabic lakk, from Persian lak
 * Lambada :from lambada (="beating, lashing")
 * Lascar :from Portuguese lascari, from Urdu and Persian laškarī 'soldier', from laškar 'army'.
 * Launch :from Portuguese lancha, from Malay lancharan 'boat'.
 * Lingo :perhaps from Old Portuguese lingoa, today's língua, ("language", "tongue") related to Old Provençal lengo, lingo. Or perhaps, from Polari slang, ultimately from Italian lingua franca. Polari is a distinctive English argot in use since at least the 18th century among groups of theatrical and circus performers and in certain homosexual communities, derived largely from Italian, directly or through Lingua Franca. Sailors' expressions from the 16th century passed on to 19th century English 'gay' culture, and vaudeville theatrical world, including words derived from a variety of sources such as Italian, Romani, Yiddish, and British rhyming slang.
 * Macaque :from macaco, through French
 * Macaw :from macau; ultimately from Tupi macavuana.
 * Mandarin :from mandarim, from the Malay mantri, from Hindi मंत्री matri, from Sanskrit मन्त्रिन् mantrin (="counsellor")
 * Mango :from manga, via Malay mangga, ultimately from Malayalam മാങ്ങ māṅṅa or from Tamil மாங்காய் mānkāy
 * Mangrove : probably from Portuguese mangue mangrove (from Spanish mangle, probably from Taino) + English grove
 * Manioc :from mandioca (="cassava") from Tupi mandioca.
 * Maraca :from maracá from Tupi
 * Marimba :from Portuguese, of Bantu origin; akin to Kimbundu ma-rimba : ma-, pl. n. pref. + rimba, xylophone, hand piano
 * Marmalade :from marmelada, a preserve made from marmelo (="quince")
 * Molasses :from melaço (="treacle")
 * Monsoon :from monção
 * Mosquito :from Mosquito meaning 'little fly'
 * Mulatto :Portuguese mulato. From mula (=mule) a cross between a horse and a donkey or from the Arabic term muwallad, which means "a person of mixed ancestry"
 * Negro :Negro means "black" in Spanish and Portuguese being from the Latin word niger (Dative nigro, Accusative nigrum) and the Greek word Νέγρος Negros both of the same meaning. It came to English through the Portuguese and Spanish slave trade. Prior to the 1970s, it was the dominant term for Black people of African origin; in most English language contexts (except its inclusion in the names of some organizations founded when the term had currency, e.g. the United Negro College Fund), it is now considered either archaic or a slur.

P-Z

 * Pagoda :from pagode; corruption of Persian بوتکاتا butkata (+"idol deity")
 * Palanquin :from Portuguese palanquim, from Oriya pālaṅki
 * Palaver: a chat, from palavra (="word"), Portuguese palavra (word), parabola (parable), speech (current fala, discurso), chat (current bate-papo, papo, palavrinha, conversa and also Eng. chat) alteration of Late Latin parabola, speech, parable.
 * Pickaninny :from pequenina (="little one") or pequeninha (="toddler")
 * Piranha :from piranha (=piranha), from Tupi pirá ("fish") + ánha ("cut")
 * Pomfret :from Portuguese pampo
 * Potato: from "batata"
 * Ramkie: from Afrikaans, from Nama rangi-b, perhaps from Portuguese rabequinha diminutive of rabeca 'fiddle'
 * Rapadura :from Portuguese raspar
 * Sablefish :from sável (="shad," "whitefish")
 * Samba :from samba ; ultimately of Angolan origin, semba
 * Sargasso :from sargaço (="sargasso")
 * Savvy :from sabe he knows, from saber to know
 * Serval :from French, from Portuguese (lobo-)cerval 'Iberian lynx', from Latin cervarius
 * Stevedore :from estivador (="stevedore")
 * Talapoin :from French, from Portuguese talapão
 * Tank :from tanque
 * Tapioca :from tapioca
 * Teak :from teca
 * Tempura :Japanese 天麩羅, tenpura?, also written as "天ぷら", from Portuguese têmporas, (=Ember Days)
 * Verandah :from varanda (="balcony" or "railing"), from Hindi वरांडा varanda or Bengali baranda
 * Vindaloo :probably from Portuguese vinha d'alhos 'wine and garlic (sauce)', from vinho 'wine' + alho 'garlic' or possibly from vinagre 'vinegar' + alho 'garlic'
 * Yam :from inhame or Spanish ñame from West African nyama (="eat")
 * Zebra :from zebra (same meaning), which started as the feminine form of zebro (a kind of deer), from vulgar Latin eciferus, classical Latin EQUIFERVS.
 * Zombie : from the word "zumbi", first recorded in 1819 in a history of Brazil by the poet Robert Southey. This word is given West African origin by the Oxford English Dictionary, and was incorporated into the Portuguese language by interaction with African slaves in Brazil.