c. 1200, Spainisc, from Spaine "Spain," from Old French Espaigne (see Spaniard) + -ish. Replaced Old English Speonisc. Altered 16c. by influence of Latin. As a noun, "the Spanish language," from late 15c.
For Spanish Main see main. Spanish moss is attested from 1823. Spanish fly, the fabled aphrodisiac (ground-up cantharis blister-beetles), is attested from c. 1600. Spanish-American War was so called in British press speculations early 1898, even before it began in April. For Spanish Inquisition (by c. 1600), see inquisition.
Old English gors "gorse, furze," from Proto-Germanic *gorst- (source also of Old Saxon, Old High German gersta, Middle Dutch gherste, Dutch gerst, German gerste "barley"), from PIE *ghers- "to bristle" (source also of Latin hordeum "barley;" see horror).
type of evergreen shrub abundant in English heaths, Old English fyrs "furze, gorse, bramble," a word of unknown origin. Related: Furzy.
1844 as a Spanish word in English, "Spanish-American religious festival," Spanish, literally "feast" (see feast (n.)).
1937, "gunman, gangster," in a Spanish or Spanish-American context, from Spanish, so called from the name of the weapon (compare pistolier).
in a Spanish context, "a young Spanish lady;" as a title, "Miss;" 1823, from Spanish señorita, Spanish title corresponding to English "Miss," diminutive of señora (see senora). The Portuguese equivalent is senhorita.
1841, "ward of a Spanish or Spanish-speaking city," sometimes also used of rural settlements, from Spanish barrio "district, suburb," from Arabic barriya "open country" (fem.), from barr "outside" (of the city). The sense of "Spanish-speaking district in a U.S. city" (1939) originally is in reference to New York's Spanish Harlem.
1945, from Mexican Spanish, from past participle of Spanish tostar "to toast" (see toast (v.1)).
