taco

American  

[tah-koh, tah-kaw] / ˈtɑ koʊ, ˈtɑ kɔ /

noun

plural

tacos

1. Mexican Cooking. a tortilla filled with various ingredients, as beans, rice, chopped meat, cheese, and tomatoes, and folded over in half or rolled into a loose cylinder shape: The downside of hard-shell tacos is that you can’t fit as much stuff in a fried tortilla.

   My favorite breakfast taco has eggs, bacon, and cheese on a flour tortilla.

   The downside of hard-shell tacos is that you can’t fit as much stuff in a fried tortilla.

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taco British  

/ ˈtɑːkəʊ /

noun

1. Mexican cookery a tortilla folded into a roll with a filling and usually fried

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Etymology

Origin of taco

First recorded in 1930–35; from Mexican Spanish; perhaps a shortening of taco de minero “miner’s plug,” from the resemblance of the food to an explosive charge used in silver mines, from Spanish taco “wad, plug, wedge”; further origin uncertain

Compare meaning

How does taco compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• taco vs. burrito

Explanation

When you wrap a tortilla around a delicious filling, that's a taco. Traditional tacos are usually made with spicy, seasoned meat and garnishes like salsa and avocado — but these days, people put all kinds of things in tacos. Tacos were invented in Mexico before the Spanish arrived. In Mexican Spanish, taco means "light meal," but also "wedge" or "plug." Experts have made guesses about the indigenous roots of taco (like the Nahuatl word tlahco, "half" or "in the middle"), but this connection hasn't been proven. Today when you order a taco, it might come on a soft or crunchy fried tortilla, and be filled with meat, fish, vegetables, beans, cheese, or even tofu.

Example Sentences

Her husband’s Taco Bell order used to include three soft-shell tacos, a large soda, a Mexican pizza and a Doritos Locos taco.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026

Their fast-paced lives have given rise to a beloved family ritual: Korean taco night.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

"I thought they were going to kidnap us. I ran to a taco stand to take cover with the people there," Medina told AFP.

From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026

“I couldn’t have sold that 1st taco if my parents didn’t make the difficult decision to leave their homeland for a better life & immigrate to the U.S.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 9, 2026

She nods and walks toward the taco stand.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario