Etymology

hammock

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Today it means: A swinging couch or bed, usually made of netting or canvas about six feet (1.8 meters) wide, suspended by clews or cords at the ends. Full definition →

Spanish hamaca ← Taíno *hamaka ← Proto-Arawak *maka
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The story

  1. Proto-Arawak · derived from*maka
  2. Taíno · derived from*hamaka
  3. Spanish · borrowed fromhamaca
  4. English todayhammock

Borrowed from Spanish hamaca, from Taíno *hamaka (compare Lokono hamaka, Wayuu jama'a), from Proto-Arawak *maka. Columbus, in the narrative of his first voyage, says: “A great many Indians in canoes came to the ship to-day for the purpose of bartering their cotton, and hamacas, or nets, in which they sleep.”

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.