carrack (KAR-uhk) - n., a three- or four-masted European ocean-going vessel of the 14th through 17th centuries.


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nopales (noh-PAUL-es) - pl.n., the young pads of the prickly pear catcus, used in cooking ( Read more... )

filibuster, n. fil·i·bus·ter \ˈfi-lə-ˌbə-stər ( Read more... )

arribada (a ri βa da), noun
Arrival; a mass nesting of marine turtles.

Only a couple species of turtle exhibit this behavior.  The large number of offspring all at once overwhelms predators, allowing some young to survive.
Here's a school lesson that tries to demonstrate how an arribada works.

Etymology:  A Spanish word deriving from arribar, to ( Read more... )

mam·bo [ˈmæmbəʊ]:
origin: (1900's) Spanish Creole; Haitian


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chipotle (chi-POHT-lay, chee-PAWT-le) or chilpotle - n., ripened and smoke-dried jalapeño pepper ( Read more... )

Two words again to make up for another week missed.  But I promise not to miss next week. ;-)

ebullition: [eb-uh-lish-uh n ( Read more... )

peccadillo: [pek-uh-dil-oh]

Noun:  A very minor offense, a slight sin, a trifling fault.

Etymology: First use in about 1590.  A diminutive form of the Spanish word pecado meaning "sin."  From Latin, peccātum "transgression."

Why is this word so adorable?  X-D  It would be a cute name for a fictitious child demon character or something.

saguaro: [suh-gwahr-oh, suh-wahr-oh] (the latter pronunciation in Spanish)

Noun:

The saguaro  (Carnegiea gigantea) is a species of cactus that is only found in the Sonoran dessert of the American Southwest and Mexico.  It can grow to be as tall as fifty to seventy feet and weigh as much as six tons, and live to be 150-200 years old, though ( Read more... )

I've always thought this word simply meant "triple", but the etymology turned out to be more complex than that, as you can read below:
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trifecta noun tri·fec·ta \trī-ˈfek-tə, ˈtrī-ˌ\

1: a variation of the perfecta (a bet in which the bettor picks the first and second place finishers in order) in which a bettor wins by selecting the first three ( Read more... )