Bonito
/boʊˈniːtoʊ/noun
A small, fast-swimming tuna of the mackerel family, or a related food fish.
Did you know?Bonito is a Romance-language diminutive built from Latin bonus, so its name is secretly tied to the same ancient root that gave English “bonus,” “benefit,” and “bonanza.”
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
bonus
“good, favorable, kind”
Medieval Latin / Early Romance
Romance
bonitus / bonito
“pretty, good-looking; little good one”
Spanish / Portuguese
Spanish
bonito
“pretty; also applied to a kind of fish”
16th–17th Century
Spanish / Portuguese to English
bonito
“a small tuna-like fish, borrowed from Iberian languages”
Modern English
English
bonito
“a marine fish of the tuna family”
Explore more surprising origins