*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of llama

Etymology tree Quechua llamabor. Spanish llamabor. English llama Borrowed from Spanish llama, borrowed from Quechua llama.

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

A South American mammal of the camel family, Lama glama, used as a domestic beast of burden and a source of wool and meat. · A firearm, especially a handgun.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Quechua llamabor. Spanish llamabor. English llama Borrowed from Spanish llama, borrowed from Quechua llama.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "es:llama<id:animal>",
        "text": "++",
        "tree": "1",
        "id": "animal"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nQuechua llamabor.\nSpanish llamabor.\nEnglish llama\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"animal\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Quechua\", \"term\" : \"llama\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"qu\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Spanish\", \"term\" : \"llama\", \"lang\" : \"es\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"llama\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"animal\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"llama\" id=\"English:_animal\">\nBorrowed from Spanish llama, borrowed from Quechua llama."
    },
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "es:llama<id:animal>",
        "text": "++",
        "tree": "1",
        "id": "animal"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nQuechua llamabor.\nSpanish llamabor.\nEnglish llama\nBorrowed from Spanish llama, borrowed from Quechua llama."
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "llama",
      "llama#Quechua"
    ],
    [
      "llama",
      "llama#Spanish:_animal"
    ],
    [
      "llama",
      "llama#Spanish:_animal"
    ],
    [
      "llama",
      "llama#Quechua"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Chinese",
      "lang_code": "zh",
      "word": "駱馬",
      "raw_tags": [
        "semantic loan"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Traditional-Chinese"
      ],
      "roman": "luòmǎ"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Chinese",
      "lang_code": "zh",
      "word": "骆马",
      "raw_tags": [
        "semantic loan",
        "semantic loan"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Simplified-Chinese"
      ],
      "roman": "luòmǎ"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Irish",
      "lang_code": "ga",
      "word": "láma",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "lang_code": "ja",
      "word": "ラマ",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "rama"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Korean",
      "lang_code": "ko",
      "word": "라마",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "rama"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "lang_code": "cy",
      "word": "lama",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A South American mammal of the camel family, Lama glama, used as a domestic beast of burden and a source of wool and meat.",
        "A firearm, especially a handgun."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "recordId": "7539f868b80cddd8813b9748246903157853e18d7e0fb136ebb22245c2f9cb21",
      "rawRecordSha256": "a13e37d661d5c80eab4e4d870242ced029055a42086a7ff5ce6d5d6870945d69",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 16064
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

Archaic form of lama.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Sino-Tibetan Tibetan བླ (bla) Tibetan མ (ma) Tibetan བླ་མ (bla ma)bor. English llama Borrowed from Tibetan བླ་མ (bla ma).

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "bo:བླ་མ",
        "text": "+",
        "tree": "1",
        "id": "buddhism"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Sino-Tibetan\nTibetan བླ (bla)\nTibetan མ (ma)\nTibetan བླ་མ (bla ma)bor.\nEnglish llama\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Sino-Tibetan\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"children\" : [ ], \"lang\" : \"sit-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Tibetan\", \"term\" : \"བླ\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"bo\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Tibetan\", \"term\" : \"མ\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"bo\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Tibetan\", \"term\" : \"བླ་མ\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"bo\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"llama\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"buddhism\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"llama\" id=\"English:_buddhism\">\nBorrowed from Tibetan བླ་མ (bla ma)."
    },
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "bo:བླ་མ",
        "text": "+",
        "tree": "1",
        "id": "buddhism"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Sino-Tibetan\nTibetan བླ (bla)\nTibetan མ (ma)\nTibetan བླ་མ (bla ma)bor.\nEnglish llama\nBorrowed from Tibetan བླ་མ (bla ma)."
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "བླ",
      "བླ#Tibetan"
    ],
    [
      "མ",
      "མ#Tibetan"
    ],
    [
      "བླ་མ",
      "བླ་མ#Tibetan"
    ],
    [
      "བླ་མ",
      "བླ་མ#Tibetan"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Archaic form of lama."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "archaic"
      ],
      "recordId": "b5579968c6cdef779f2cad4d272fee9028b0ecedca9d248f21b9559e54f3b615",
      "rawRecordSha256": "2b5486cc459498479aebb72b7fe5fe4e2ef4c6812bf1ec068011bab08178b808",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 16065
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
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    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
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  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for llama →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-bGxhbWE