During the Reconquista (1492 AD) of the Iberian Peninsula , Spanish was spoken by the Catholic Europeans, and Arabic was spoken by the Moor, or Muslim, occupiers. Modern Spanish has many “lexemas”, or borrowed words, in various fields. For example:
- Administración: alcalde, alguacil, barrio
- Militar: alcázar, almirante, rehén
- Vivienda: alcoba, alquiler, azotea, zaguán
- Agricultura: aceituna, acequia, arroz, algodón, alubia, azúcar, naranja, zanahoria
- Artesanía: albañil, alfarero, alfiler, badana
- Comercio: aduana, almacén, arancel, fanega, maravedí
- Topónimos: Cáceres, Guadalquivir,
Guadarrama ,Madrid
<<Topónimo>> = cities, rivers, mountains, and other geographical features.
If you do not know what these words mean, use a Spanish-English Dictionary!
