mezcal

Where does the word "mezcal" come from? It comes from Nahuatl mexcalli, passing through Spanish before entering English (1800s-1900s).

Mezcal’s story begins in Nahuatl: mexcalli meant “cooked agave.” Combining "metl" (agave) and "ixcalli" (cooked), describing the roasted agave. By 1500s-1600s, the word had taken hold in Spanish as mezcal. Nahuatl 'cooked agave'; tequila is a type of mezcal from Jalisco. It reached English by 1800s-1900s as mezcal. English first used it for the agave plant, in 1702; the sense 'liquor from agave' appears in 1828. Today, mezcal means a distilled Mexican spirit made from roasted agave plants.

1. Stage 1 · Nahuatl · pre-1500s mexcalli "cooked agave", combining "metl" (agave) and "ixcalli" (cooked), describing the roasted agave.
2. Stage 2 · Spanish · 1500s-1600s mezcal "a distilled agave spirit", Nahuatl 'cooked agave'; tequila is a type of mezcal from Jalisco.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1800s-1900s mezcal "a distilled spirit made from roasted agave", English first used it for the agave plant, in 1702; the sense 'liquor from agave' appears in 1828.