Molcajete
/molkaˈxete/noun
A traditional Mexican mortar made of volcanic stone, used for grinding spices, chiles, and sauces.
Did you know?Molcajete is usually traced to Nahuatl roots, and the tool itself is a surviving piece of Indigenous technology that predates the Spanish conquest by centuries.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Nahuatl
Nah
molcaxitl
“mortar or grinding bowl”
16th Century
Spanish
molcajete
“borrowed form adapted into colonial Mexican Spanish”
Colonial Mexico
Spa
molcajete
“stone mortar used for grinding maize, chiles, and spices”
Modern English
English
molcajete
“a Mexican volcanic-stone mortar and pestle bowl”