Why does the word "tortilla" refer to three distinct types of edibles?

Question

The crisps[BrEn]/chips[AmEn] that are made of corn (and probably not deep-fried) are called tortilla:

The wraps with that special taste, are called tortila:

And then, the omelet-like meal is called tortilla!

I can understand that the first usage is probably derived from the second, since I saw something saying that frying the wraps, you can make the chips; but the third usage is not related to these two at all.

What's the commonality among these three that has made the English use the same word for all of them? Or is it just a random confusion/carelessness after borrowing the edible + the name from Mexican and Spanish in different periods of time?

Jon Clayden · Accepted Answer

I think on one level it's fairly simple: because the Spanish word for all three is the same, too. The Diccionario de la lengua española gives the omelette sense first, with no particular localisation (although it is often called tortilla española and originates from Spain); then the wrap sense, which is localised to Central America, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Tortilla chips (as they are usually called even in British English, in my experience) are just fried corn tortilla wraps, as you say.

The DRAE doesn't give etymologies, but tortilla is diminutive of torta, which generally refers to a round flatbread but also has various other local meanings. It seems that roundness and flat(ish)ness may be all that they have in common.

Getting back to English, I would say that following @Peter Shor's comment, most Brits would also call these tortilla chips, tortillas (or tortilla wraps) and Spanish omelettes, respectively.

L. Alfonso DuLuc · Answer

In Spanish, the suffixs "illo, illa, ito or ita" mean "small". The word TORTA in Spanish comes from old latin meaning a round bread, cake or pie (sweet or savory), so omeletes are also considered tortas o tortillas. When the Spanish established themselves in America (1500) they called the flat bread "small torta"=tortilla.  In Spanish, ALL OVER, tortilla does not mean only the Amerindian flat bread. An egg omelette is called Tortilla de huevos, a spinach omelette is Tortilla de espinaca; a rice cake is Tortita de arroz, etc. Look at these videos from a Mexican cook and a Peruvian cook, two very different countries:
Mexico, egg omelette: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNdm2xdhk9w

Peru:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekNaUjjUL5k

Enjoy! And now you know that torta, tortilla is NOT only the Amerindian flat bread.

L. Alfonso Duluc · Answer

The Native American (Nahuatl) name for the flat round bread was tlaxcali. Torta in ancient Latin meant "round bread" sweet or savory so a "cake-like food. When the Spanish saw the Amerindian flat breads they called it tortilla (small flat round bread) - illo, illa, ito, ita is a diminutive suffix.
With time, torta, tortilla, tortita has also come to mean omelets, spongy cakes, flat round breads and other similar foods (think rice cake-tortita de arroz, crab cake-tortitas de cangrejo, etc.) Even in Mexico, an egg omelet is una tortilla de huevos.
Here is a link to a video of a Mexicaa cook preparing a "tortilla de huevo y berenjena" on YouTube
By the way, tortilla chips are called "totopos".
Buen provecho!

Why does the word "tortilla" refer to three distinct types of edibles?

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