tamale

See also: Tamale

English

Two tamales.

Etymology

Back-formation from the plural tamales, from Spanish tamales, plural of tamal, from Nahuatl tamalli (“wrapped”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /təˈmɑ.li/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Homophone: tomalley

Noun

tamale (plural tamales)

1. Mexican dish of cornmeal dough shell filled with various ingredients (e.g. chopped beef, pork, sweet filling) then steamed in corn husks.

Usage notes

The standard Spanish singular is tamal, and thus some proscribe tamale as an incorrect back-formation, preferring to use tamal as the English singular. The similarity of tamale to the ancestral Nahuatl tamalli is not generally cited in support of the English usage of tamale as its spelling does not match with the Nahuatl spelling and the word originally entered via Spanish in the form of tamales.

Synonyms

• humita
• tamal

Derived terms

• big tamale
• hot tamale
• tamale pie

 

Related terms

• tamalera
• tamalero
• tamalito

Translations

Mexican dish

• Isthmus Zapotec: gueta guu
• Navajo: ałchʼįʼ beʼestłʼóní, Naakaii bintsidígoʼí, nijiloʼí
• Spanish: tamal (es) m
• Tagalog: tamales
• Taos: tomòliʼína

Anagrams

• malate, meatal

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taˈmale/ [t̪aˈma.le]
• Rhymes: -ale
• Syllabification: ta‧ma‧le

Noun

tamale m (plural tamales)

1. (dialect) tamale

Derived terms

• tamaleada
• tamalera
• tamalito

 

Related terms

• tamal