English
iguana
Iguana comes from Spanish iguana, and goes back to Taíno *iwana.
- Taínomodern*iwanareconstructed
- Spanishc. 1500–presentiguana
- Englishearliest quotation 1887same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Taínomodern*iwanareconstructed
- Spanishc. 1500–presentiguana
- Englishearliest quotation 1887same form
Earliest quotation: 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging: “The last they had had, was an iguana one…”
Every English word from Taíno *iwana
Today it means
noun A green iguana (Iguana iguana), a large tropical American lizard often kept as a pet.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Taíno *iwana / iguana