1
Stage 1 of 4
teocintli
Nahuatl · pre-1500s
"god's maize, a wild grass related to corn"
combined 'teotl' (god) and 'cintli' (dried maize), naming the wild ancestor grass of corn
2
Stage 2 of 4
teocinte
Spanish · 1600s-1800s
"a wild grass, the ancestor of cultivated corn"
adopted into Mexican Spanish for the wild grass related to domesticated maize
3
Stage 3 of 4
téosinte
French · 1870s
"a wild grass related to maize"
adopted into French botanical literature describing the plant
4
Stage 4 of 4
teosinte
English · 1880s
"a wild grass considered the evolutionary ancestor of modern corn"
borrowed into English botanical and genetic terminology
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