Tabasco

Origin

Of unclear origin. The first definition listed in the 1994 Diccionario enciclopédico de Tabasco was from the Nahuatl name of the area, tlapalco meaning "(place of) damp earth"; wetlands are still extensive in the Mexican state of Tabasco. Other opinions listed were Mayan word tab-uaxac-koh, meaning "(our) lord of eight lions"; others suggest it derives from a Nahuatl word: tla-uashka-ko meaning "place that has an owner", or tlapachtli. The tabasco pepper was popular in the Mexican state and is named for it; a hot sauce made from that pepper was eaten in the state since the 1650s, and a version was popularized in the United States and elsewhere by the McIlhenny Company of Avery Island, Louisiana, beginning in the 1870s.