The Wide World of Word Origins: English Words Derived from Quechua

Quechua, which actually refers to several languages spoken throughout the Andes mountain range, has a total of between 8 and 10 million speakers. It is the most widely spoken indigenous language of the Americas. Here is a list of 15 words that English borrowed from Quechua, and while some of them are specific to a life in the Andes, a few, like the animal names, are fully incorporated into English.