The word 'tortilla' is a direct borrowing from Spanish, where it is the diminutive of 'torta', meaning 'cake'. This Spanish term itself originates from Late Latin 'torta', meaning 'twisted bread' or 'a round loaf', which is a feminine form of the past participle of Latin 'torquēre', 'to twist'. The semantic journey reflects the cooking method: from the concept of 'twisted bread' in Latin, to a general 'cake' in Spanish, and finally to the specific, thin, flat cake of corn or wheat that is a staple of Mexican cuisine. The diminutive suffix '-illa' gives it the sense of a small, flat cake.

The entire word is a loanword from Spanish. It is a diminutive form derived from the Spanish word 'torta', meaning 'cake'.