Mexican Name Finder
AntojitoNahuatlPuebla

Molote

"bundle, roll"

Say it

moh·LOH·teh

Where it comes from

molotic (fluffy, spongy)

What Molote means

Molote is a Mexican antojito name of Nahuatl origin meaning "bundle, roll". It comes from molotic (fluffy, spongy). It is pronounced moh-LOH-teh, and it is most associated with Puebla.

Etymology uncertain. Mexican Spanish molote means a bundle or a tangle of hair, and the football-shaped masa turnover takes the same name; the Nahuatl source is proposed by Santamaría but not settled.

About this origin. The etymology is uncertain, disputed, or the name is a modern brand rather than an old word. The reading above is the best-supported one; food writing repeats stories that the dictionaries do not confirm.

Molote is one of the many Mexican food words formed in Nahuatl. Spanish borrowed it, and in several cases English borrowed it again from Spanish. See how Nahuatl builds words and the full list of Mexican food names.

This is a site about what Mexican words mean, so there is no recipe here. For the name itself: Antojito means "little craving". These are the masa-based street foods named for their shape more often than their filling: a sope is a small mound, a huarache is a sandal, a gordita is a fat little one, a tlacoyo is an oval patty.

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Molote means bundle, roll

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