The Etymology of Burrito
Burrito is the diminutive of Spanish burro, donkey, and so means literally little donkey — a piece of culinary whimsy whose exact motivation is debated. Folk explanations cluster around two ideas: the rolled tortilla resembles the pack-bundles strapped to a donkey, or street vendors in northern Mexico carried trays of them on burros. Whatever the metaphor, the dish is recorded in Mexican Spanish from the late nineteenth century and was firmly established in the cuisine of Sonora, Chihuahua, and the border region by the 1900s. American English borrowed the word in 1934, and burritos crossed into mainstream U.S. menus through Tex-Mex restaurants from the 1950s onward. Spanish burro itself comes from Late Latin burricus, a small horse, ultimately of disputed origin. Spanish has a fondness for naming foods after small animals — taco, gusano, gato — and burrito sits comfortably in that family.