chinampa

Where does the word "chinampa" come from? It comes from Nahuatl chinamitl, passing through Spanish before entering English (1840s).

Chinampa’s story begins in Nahuatl: chinamitl meant “a fence of reeds or canes.” Named the cane or reed fence used to build raised agricultural plots in shallow lakes. By 1600s, the word had taken hold in Spanish as chinampa. Aztec 'floating gardens' fed Tenochtitlan; some survive at Xochimilco. It reached English by 1840s as chinampa. Appeared as early as 1787 in Charles Cullen's English translation of Francesco Clavigero's history of Mexico. Today, chinampa means an artificial agricultural island built in shallow lake beds, developed by the Aztecs and still used in parts of Mexico.

1. Stage 1 · Nahuatl · pre-1500s chinamitl "a fence of reeds or canes", named the cane or reed fence used to build raised agricultural plots in shallow lakes.
2. Stage 2 · Spanish · 1600s chinampa "an artificial, canal-lined agricultural plot", Aztec 'floating gardens' fed Tenochtitlan; some survive at Xochimilco.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1840s chinampa "a Mesoamerican raised-field farming technique, sometimes called a 'floating garden'", appeared as early as 1787 in Charles Cullen's English translation of Francesco Clavigero's history of Mexico.