Etymology

ayahuasca

A1Y4A1H4U1A1S1C3A1

Today it means: A giant vine native to South America (especially Banisteriopsis caapi), noted for its psychotropic properties. Full definition →

Spanish ayahuasca ← Quechua ayawaska
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Quechua · derived fromayawaska
  2. Spanish · borrowed fromayahuasca
  3. English todayayahuasca

From Spanish ayahuasca, from Quechua ayawaska, from aya (“spirit, ancestor”) + waska (“vine”). First use appears c. 1870. See cite below.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.