Mexican Name Finder
DrinkNahuatlChihuahua

Sotol

"palm with thin leaves"

Say it

soh·TOL

Where it comes from

tzotolin / zōtolin (palm)

What Sotol means

Sotol is a Mexican drink name of Nahuatl origin meaning "palm with thin leaves". It comes from tzotolin / zōtolin (palm). It is pronounced soh-TOL, and it is most associated with Chihuahua.

Dasylirion is neither a palm nor an agave, but the Nahuatl name filed it with the palms and the spirit inherited the plant's word. In the northern desert it is called the desert spoon in English, for the shape of the leaf base.

Sotol 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: Agua fresca, horchata, atole, tepache, pulque, mezcal. Most Mexican drink names are the name of the plant or grain they are made from, and the agave spirits are named for the towns and regions that make them.

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Sotol means palm with thin leaves

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