The word "machete"

The word machete is used, in the majority of the occidental languages without too much variations. It comes from the same spanish word, that is used to refer to this cutting tool.

There are different theories about the origin of the word machete in the Spanish language. The most accepted theory is that it is a diminutive of the word macho, but not in the sense of male, as it is used in English. The Spanish word macho, also means mace, the heavy tool used in forging weapons. This is what is stated in the dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy of the Language (DRAE), the most prestigious dictionary in Spanish.

However I have read about other theory of the origin of this word. It turns out that the first machetes were made by a British factory called Manchester. When these cutting tools arrived to the Spanish speaking Caribbean, the word Manchester was transformed to Machete by the local people. However I have not found serious studies that follow this hypothesis.

In many parts of the Caribbean are, in particular in Venezuela, the tool machete is used by the fishermen and fish sellers to cut and prepare the fish. As it can be seen in the picture bellow. This huge piece of tuna fish was cut using a machete. I took this photo in a street market.

I hope that you found this post interesting.

Photo of my authorship