Tabasco

See also: tabasco

English

Etymology

Of unclear origin.^[1] The first definition listed in the 1994 Diccionario enciclopédico de Tabasco was from the Nahuatl name of the area, tlapalco meaning "(place of) damp earth";^[2] wetlands are still extensive in the Mexican state of Tabasco. Other opinions listed were Mayan word tab-uaxac-koh, meaning "(our) lord of eight lions";^[2] others suggest it derives from a Nahuatl word: tla-uashka-ko meaning "place that has an owner",^[2] or tlapachtli.

The tabasco pepper was popular in the Mexican state and is named for it; a hot sauce made from that pepper was eaten in the state since the 1650s,^[3]^[1] and a version was popularized in the United States and elsewhere by the McIlhenny Company of Avery Island, Louisiana, beginning in the 1870s.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /təˈbæskəʊ/
Audio (Southern England): (file)

Proper noun

Tabasco

A state of Mexico.

Translations

state of Mexico

Chinese:
Mandarin: 塔瓦斯科 (zh) (Tǎwǎsīkē)
Greek: Ταμπάσκο n (Tampásko)
Marathi: ताबास्को (tābāsko)
Spanish: Tabasco (es) m
Swedish: Tabasco n

Noun

Tabasco (uncountable)

A spicy pepper sauce made from tabasco pepper (a chili pepper) with the addition of vinegar and salt.

Derived terms

Tabasco sauce

Translations

spicy pepper sauce

Chinese:
Cantonese: 辣椒仔 (laat⁶ ziu¹ zai²)

Mandarin: 塔巴斯科辣椒醬 / 塔巴斯科辣椒酱 (Tǎbāsīkē làjiāojiàng)
Finnish: tabascokastike
Greek: σάλτσα ταμπάσκο n (sáltsa tampásko)
Hindi: टबैस्को m (ṭabaisko)
Indonesian: tabasco
Japanese: タバスコ (Tabasuko)
Korean: 타바스코 소스 (Tabaseuko soseu)
Marathi: टबास्को m (ṭabāsko)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: tabasko m, tabaskosaus m

Nynorsk: tabasko m, tabaskosaus m
Polish: tabasco (pl) n
Swedish: tabasco (sv) c, tabascosås (sv) c
Urdu: ٹبیسکو m (ṭabaisko)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “Tabasco”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Diccionario enciclopédico de Tabasco, volume 2 (1994), page 628: "[...] Tabasco procede de tlapalco, "en la tierra húmeda" [...]. Marcos E. Becerra, en su obra Nombres geográficos de Tabasco, descarta la versión atribuida a los doctores Brinton y Berendt, en el sentido de que Tabasco viene del maya tab-uaxac-koh, que en su proceso de castellanización pasó a ser sucesivamente Tabuashakoj, Tabuasaco, Tabuasco y al fin Tabasco, que significa "nuestro señor el de los ocho leones". En cambio, sostiene que Tabasco deriva del náhuatl "Tla-uash-ko: de tla, prefijo pronominal indeterminativo, alguno; uashka, dominio, propiedad; y ko, terminación toponímica", o sea "lugar que tiene dueño". El historiador Diógenes López [...]"
^ Maryann Tebben, Sauces: A Global History →ISBN, 2014)