tamale

[tuh-mah-lee]

noun

a Mexican dish made of minced and seasoned meat packed in cornmeal dough, wrapped in corn husks, and steamed.

Origin of tamale

1605–15, Americanism; construed as singular of Mexican Spanish tamales, plural of tamal < Nahuatl tamalli

Tamale

[tuh-mah-lee]

noun

a city in N Ghana.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tamale

Contemporary Examples of tamale

Beltrán Leyva, a gourmand, was savoring his tamale with its filling of roasted corn.
Trading Dime Bags for Salvador Dali
Jason McGahan
October 19, 2014

Historical Examples of tamale

There she resumed her tamale in the intervals of conversation.
The Wrong Woman
Charles D. Stewart
In the middle of the street was a tamale stand surrounded by patrons.
The Californians
Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton
The tamale is still a favorite dish, like tortillas and frijoles.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 2
Hubert Howe Bancroft
She promised to give us all a tamale supper tonight, you know.
The Long Dim Trail
Forrestine C. Hooker
A hot 13 tamale, like that Mexican fruit which burns you if you bite into it!
Pemrose Lorry, Camp Fire Girl
Isabel Katherine Hornibrook

British Dictionary definitions for tamale

tamale

noun

a Mexican dish made of minced meat mixed with crushed maize and seasonings, wrapped in maize husks and steamed

Word Origin for tamale

C19: erroneously for tamal, from Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl tamalli

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tamale

1856, from American Spanish tamales, plural of tamal, from Nahuatl tamal, tamalli, a food made of Indian corn and meat.