barbecue

The next New World language source is Taíno (tah-EE-noh), an Arawakan language spoken (in a few dialects) throughout the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and Leeward Islands at the time of Columbus’s voyages—and as the first New World language the Spanish met, many terms for all the new New World stuff they met came from it. [Sidebar: In the Windward Islands they used Island Carib, another Arawakan language spoken by Carib peoples from the South American coast who’d displaced Taíno-speakers northward yet adopted and adapted their language—but stick a pin in that.] In fact, there’s enough Taíno-sourced words dealing with food to dedicate a week to just that topic, starting with:


barbecue, barbeque, and many other spellings (BAR-bih-kyew) - n., (obs.) a framework of sticks; a grill, fireplace, or pit for slow-grilling or smoking food; meat cooked in such an apparatus; a meal highlighted by meat so cooked.


I’d never seen or heard that first meaning, but I’m including it for the etymological trail. We got the word (via Spanish barbacoa) from Taíno barbakoa/barabicu, a raised framework of sticks, which was used both for curing meat over a fire and as a bedframe. (The folk etymology that it’s from French barbe à queue, from beard to tail, signifying a whole animal roasting on a spit, has no evidence whatsoever.)


Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.