potato (English)

Where does "potato" come from?

The English word 'potato' was borrowed from the Spanish 'patata'[1]. Spanish acquired this term from Taíno 'batata', which originally meant 'sweet potato'[1]. Along the way, the term merged historical references to different starchy tubers.

Open questions

• The Spanish word patata is also listed by the Diccionario de la Real Academia Espanola as a blend of papa and batata. [2]

Full etymology tree

• potato (English), 'A plant of species Solanum tuberosum or its edible starchy tuber.'
  • borrowed patata (Spanish), 'potato'
    • borrowed batata (Taíno), 'sweet potato'
    • blend papa (Spanish), 'potato'

Ancestors

• patata (Spanish)
• batata (Taíno)

Descendants and derived words

• air potato (English)
• all that and a bag of potato chips (English)
• almond potato (English)
• Andean potato (English)
• Anna potatoes (English)
• baked potato (English)
• Bengal potatoes (English)
• blue potato (English)
• chipped potato (English)
• clean potato (English)
• Colorado potato beetle (English)
• couch potato (English)

Related words

• plant (English)
• field (English)

Sources

1. potato (English) - Wiktionary
2. patata (Spanish) - Wiktionary
3. papa (Spanish) - Wiktionary
4. batata (Spanish) - Wiktionary
5. papa (Quechua) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris