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llama

LAH-muh · noun

QuechuaSpanishEnglish

Origin

One 'llama' — the woolly Andean pack animal — comes from Spanish llama, borrowed from Quechua llama. A separate 'llama' — an older English spelling for a Buddhist teacher or monk — was borrowed from Tibetan བླ་མ (bla ma).

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Journey

The animal's name passed from Quechua speakers in the Andes into Spanish and then into English essentially unchanged in meaning. The Tibetan word for a spiritual teacher was borrowed separately and at times spelled the same way in English before settling as 'lama.'

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