chinchilla

Where does the word "chinchilla" come from? It comes from Quechua/Aymara chinchilla, passing through Spanish before entering English (1600s).

Chinchilla’s story begins in Quechua/Aymara: chinchilla meant “the chinchilla rodent.” The name for the small, soft-furred rodent of the Andes. By 1500s, the word had taken hold in Spanish as chinchilla. Spanish colonists traded chinchilla fur so heavily that the wild animal nearly went extinct by 1900. It reached English by 1600s as chinchilla. Settled as the English word for the small rodent prized for its soft fur. Today, chinchilla means a small South American rodent with soft, dense fur, kept as a pet or for fur.

1. Stage 1 · Quechua/Aymara · medieval chinchilla "the chinchilla rodent", the name for the small, soft-furred rodent of the Andes.
2. Stage 2 · Spanish · 1500s chinchilla "a small, soft-furred Andean rodent", Spanish colonists traded chinchilla fur so heavily that the wild animal nearly went extinct by 1900.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1600s chinchilla "a small rodent with very soft, dense fur", settled as the English word for the small rodent prized for its soft fur.