Burrito Means Little Donkey
A burrito is a flour tortilla wrapped around a filling. The Spanish name means little donkey, and nobody is entirely sure why.
A burrito is a large wheat tortilla folded around beans, rice, meat or vegetables and rolled into a sealed cylinder. The name is Spanish for little donkey, and the explanations offered range from the bundle a pack donkey carries to the rolled-up bedrolls it was said to resemble.
- A filled and rolled flour tortilla. *A bean and cheese burrito.*
- A wrapped bundle by analogy. *Wrapped up like a burrito in a blanket.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | burrito | A breakfast burrito. |
| Plural | burritos | Two burritos to go. |
| Related | taco | A soft taco. |
| Related | quesadilla | A cheese quesadilla. |
| Related | chimichanga | A deep-fried chimichanga. |
How it is used in a sentence
- He ordered a burrito with extra guacamole.The everyday restaurant use.
- Fold in the sides before you roll the burrito.The step that stops the filling escaping.
- The baby was swaddled like a burrito.A modern figurative use, affectionate and informal.
Burrito, taco, wrap and chimichanga
- Burrito — flour tortilla, fully enclosed, ends folded in
- Taco — folded not rolled, usually corn, open along one edge
- Wrap — the generic non-Mexican version, any flatbread and filling
- Chimichanga — a burrito that has been deep-fried
From Spanish *burro*, donkey, with the diminutive *-ito*. The dish is northern Mexican in origin and became widely known in the United States through California, where the large stuffed Mission-style burrito was developed in San Francisco in the 1960s.
Is a burrito Mexican or American?
Both. The form is northern Mexican, but the oversized filled version most people picture was developed in California.
Why little donkey?
Nobody knows for certain. The most repeated story is that the rolled shape resembled the packs or bedrolls carried by donkeys.