cholla
UK[ˈtʃɔɪə]US[ˈtʃɔɪə]
n
A type of cactus native to the southwestern United States and Mexico, characterized by cylindrical stems covered in dense, barbed spines.
Etymology
The word 'cholla' entered English in the mid-19th century from Mexican Spanish, where it refers to the same spiny cactus. The Spanish term itself is believed to be derived from an indigenous language of the Americas, likely from the now-extinct language of the Taíno people of the Caribbean, who used the word 'choya'. This term was then carried to mainland Mexico and the American Southwest by Spanish colonists. The journey from a specific indigenous plant name to a standardized botanical term in English illustrates the typical path of loanwords for flora and fauna in colonized regions, where local names are adopted by the new language speakers to describe unfamiliar species.
Analysis
This word is a loanword from Mexican Spanish, adopted into English as a single, unanalyzable unit in terms of productive English morphemes.
Examples
The hiker carefully avoided the dense thicket of cholla, knowing its spines could easily detach and cause painful injury.
Cholla wood, the skeletal remains of the cactus, is often used in aquariums as a natural decoration.
The desert landscape was dotted with the distinctive silhouettes of jumping cholla against the evening sky.