Mexican Name Finder
IngredientTainocentral Mexico

Maguey

"agave plant"

Also called Agave, Metl.

Say it

mah·GAY

Where it comes from

Taíno maguey (agave)

What Maguey means

Maguey is a Mexican ingredient name of Taino origin meaning "agave plant". It comes from Taíno maguey (agave). It is pronounced mah-GAY, and it is most associated with central Mexico.

The Spanish brought a Caribbean word to a plant the Nahuas called metl. Agave is later botanical Latin, from Greek agauē, noble; mezcal comes from mexcalli, metl (maguey) + ixca (to cook).

This is a site about what Mexican words mean, so there is no recipe here. For the name itself: The words that appear inside dish names: the chiles (ancho, guajillo, pasilla, chipotle), the corn words (nixtamal, masa, tortilla, elote), and the tools (comal, molcajete, metate). Learn these and most menu items decode themselves.

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Maguey means agave plant

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