tonto · noun, adjective1
- Spanish · borrowed fromtonto“stupid, foolish; idiot, fool”
- English todaytonto
Borrowed from Spanish tonto (“stupid, foolish; idiot, fool”), of uncertain etymology. Originally in US use but now chiefly British. Cf. earlier Tonto, with which it is sometimes confused.
Tonto · proper noun, noun2
- Potawatomi · derived from[Term?]
- apw · calque ofkounʼnde“wild rough people”
- Spanish · borrowed fromtonto“fool, idiot”
- English todayTonto
From Spanish tonto (“fool, idiot”), the Spanish name for the tribe, a calque of Western Apache kounʼnde (“wild rough people”). The fictional character (described as Comanche or Potawatomi) either from Potawatomi [Term?] or named after Tonto Basin, Arizona.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.