Show all 100 words (89 more)
Battle of Puebla
Parade and Fiesta
Food of Mexico
Mexico and Its Symbols
Spanish Words
Battle of Puebla, continued
Juarez Benito, the leader of Mexico in 1862 and its first Indigenous one. In Spanish the name has an accent on the a. Loreto One of the two strongholds above Puebla that the French failed to storm. The other was Guadalupe. Maguey A big, spiky agave plant. Mexican horsemen waited hidden in a field of them on May 5, 1862. Maximilian The Austrian archduke whom the French made emperor of Mexico in 1864. His rule lasted three years. Napoleon The Third of this name ruled the French from 1852 to 1870 and sent their army to Mexico. Outnumbered Having fewer people than the other side, as the Mexican army did at Puebla. President The elected head of a republic. Mexico's made May 5 a holiday four days after the fighting. Puebla The Mexican city where the fight of May 5, 1862 took place, about 100 km east southeast of the capital. Reenactment A show in which people dress as soldiers and act out a fight from history. Puebla holds one for May 5. Sword A long blade. Mexico's congress thanked its commander for May 5 and awarded him one. Texas Where the hero of May 5 was born in 1829, when the place was still part of Mexico. Underdog The side nobody expects to win. On May 5, 1862, that was Mexico. Veracruz The port on the Gulf of Mexico where the French army landed before marching inland. Victory A win. Mexico's on May 5, 1862 amazed a world that expected the French to win quickly. Zaragoza Ignacio, who led the Mexican army on May 5, 1862. After the win, Puebla added his name to its own.
Parade and Fiesta 19
California The state where celebrations of May 5 began, in the 1860s. Charro A Mexican horseman, skilled with the lasso. Mariachi musicians dress in his style of suit. Columbia A gold rush town in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Mexicans there cheered the news from Puebla in 1862. Dancers Performers of baile folklórico, the traditional dances of Mexico. Each region has its own. Festival Days of music, food and shows. Puebla hosts an international one every year. Fiesta Spanish for a party or festival, and now an English word too. Guitarron The very large, deep-bodied bass of a mariachi group. It has six strings and no frets. Jarabe Add the word Tapatío and you have Mexico's national dance, which began in Guadalajara. Partners step around a hat brim. Mariachi Music of western Mexico played on violins, trumpets and guitars. The players take turns singing. Miners People who dig for gold or silver. Mexican ones in the gold country sang and set off fireworks at the news from Puebla. Parade A march through the streets. Los Angeles and San Francisco held them for May 5 as early as 1863. Patriotic Showing love for your country. The songs sung at the first May 5 parties were of this kind. Pinata A decorated container full of candy, hung on a string and broken open at parties. In Spanish its n wears a tilde. Plaza A town square. Mariachi and folk dance are shown each year at the old one in Los Angeles, near Olvera Street. Sombrero A hat with a high crown and an extra-wide brim that shades head, neck and shoulders. In Spanish the word means any hat. Trumpet A brass instrument. A mariachi group today usually has two. Vihuela A small, high-pitched Mexican guitar with five strings, played in mariachi groups. Violin A string instrument played with a bow. A mariachi group may have as many as eight. Zapateado Fast footwork that strikes the floor like tap dance. The name comes from zapato, Spanish for shoe.
Food of Mexico 19
Avocado A green, oily fruit with one large seed, native to the Americas from Mexico to Peru. Cacao The bean that chocolate is made from. In ancient Mexico the beans also served as money. Cemita The sandwich of Puebla, served on a roll covered with sesame seeds, with sliced avocado, meat and cheese. Chili A hot pepper. The word comes from Nahuatl, and the plant was first farmed in Mexico. Enchilada A corn tortilla rolled round a filling, with a savory sauce over it. Horchata In Mexico, a sweet drink usually of rice, sugar and cinnamon. Jalapeno A medium-sized chili pepper, usually picked while still green. In Spanish its n wears a tilde. Maize Another name for corn. People in southern Mexico first farmed it about 9,000 years ago. Mole A thick Mexican sauce of chili peppers, nuts and spices. The best-known kind comes from Puebla. Nachos Tortilla chips under melted cheese, first made in 1943 in Piedras Negras, Mexico, and named after their inventor's nickname. Nogada A walnut cream sauce. Over a stuffed green chile from Puebla, with red pomegranate seeds, it shows the flag's colors. Nopal The flat pad of the prickly pear cactus, a food in Mexican cooking. The plant is on the flag too. Poblano A mild green chili pepper that comes from Puebla. The word also describes anyone from that city. Quesadilla A tortilla folded over a cheese filling and cooked on a griddle. Queso is Spanish for cheese. Salsa Spanish for sauce. In English it means the tomato and chili kind served with tacos and chips. Taco A small tortilla folded around a filling and eaten by hand. Tamale Corn dough with a filling, steamed inside a corn husk or a banana leaf. The name comes from Nahuatl. Tomatillo A small green fruit also called the Mexican husk tomato. It is the green in salsa verde. Tortilla A thin, round flatbread, first made from corn. It is a daily food in most of Mexico.
Mexico and Its Symbols 18
Axolotl A salamander that lives in water and keeps its gills all its life. It comes from lakes near Mexico City. Aztec The people whose empire ruled central Mexico until 1521. Their legend of a bird on a cactus is on the flag. Butterfly The monarch kind flies up to 2,800 miles to spend the winter in the mountain forests of central Mexico. Cactus A spiny desert plant. On Mexico's coat of arms the bird perches on a prickly pear one. Dahlia A bushy garden flower native to Mexico, declared the country's national flower in 1963. Eagle The golden kind stands on a cactus, eating a snake, at the center of Mexico's coat of arms. Flag Mexico's has three upright stripes and, in the middle of the white one, the national coat of arms. Hidalgo Miguel, the priest who rang his church bell on September 16, 1810 and called Mexico to break from Spain. Independence Mexico celebrates its own on September 16, not on May 5. People often mix the two days up. Mexico The country south of the United States. More native Spanish speakers live here than in any other nation. Nahuatl The language of the Aztecs, still spoken by about 1.7 million people. It gave English chili and tamale. Peso The money of Mexico, first introduced in 1863. One is worth 100 centavos. Popocatepetl An active volcano 5,393 meters high on the edge of Puebla state. Its Nahuatl name means Smoking Mountain. Pyramid At Cholula, 4 miles west of Puebla, stands the largest one in the world by volume, built of adobe brick. September The month of Mexico's national day, the 16th. The fight at Puebla was not in this month. Snake A reptile with no legs. On Mexico's coat of arms the golden bird is eating one. Talavera Tin-glazed pottery with a white base, much of it painted blue, made in Puebla since the 16th century. Volcano A mountain that can erupt. The second highest peak in Mexico is an active one on the edge of Puebla state.
Spanish Words 18
Amigo Spanish for a friend. Baile Spanish for a dance. Add the word folklórico and you have the traditional dances of Mexico. Bandera Spanish for flag. Batalla Spanish for a fight between armies. In Mexico May 5 is the day of the one at Puebla. Blanco Spanish for white, the middle stripe of Mexico's flag, where the coat of arms sits. Cinco Spanish for five, and the first word of the holiday's name. Cuatro Spanish for four. One more and you reach the number in the holiday's name. Dos Spanish for two. Gracias Spanish for thank you. Hola Spanish for hello. The h is silent. Libertad Spanish for freedom. Mayo Spanish for the month of May, and the last word of the holiday's name. Papel Spanish for paper. Add the word picado and you have tissue cut into lacy designs, a folk art born in Puebla state. Rojo Spanish for red, the last of the three stripes on Mexico's flag. Tres Spanish for three. Uno Spanish for one. Verde Spanish for green, the first of the three stripes on Mexico's flag. Victoria Spanish for a win, as at Puebla in 1862.
How this list was compiled: 100 Cinco de Mayo words chosen and defined for this site, in five themed lists (the Battle of Puebla, parade and fiesta, food of Mexico, Mexico and its symbols, Spanish words) plus three cross-cutting lists: 22 favorites that open the page, the 31 short words of 3 to 5 letters and the 30 long words of 8 to 12 letters. Every entry is a single word of 3 to 12 letters. Juarez, Pinata, Jalapeno, Guitarron and Popocatepetl are printed without their accents or tilde because the grid holds only A to Z; the Juarez, Pinata and Jalapeno clues say what is missing. Inside any one list no word can be read inside another, which is why the lists have Mayo but not May, Mole but not Guacamole and Guitarron but not Guitar. No clue contains its own word, because the clue replaces the word in clue mode. No brand, team, character or living person is an entry; the five people named (Ignacio Zaragoza, Benito Juárez, Napoleon III, Maximilian I and Miguel Hidalgo) are historical figures who died in the 19th century. Nothing about drinking is included, and the page says plainly that May 5 is not Mexico's Independence Day. Troop numbers are left out because the Wikipedia articles disagree on them. Dates, places, people and customs were checked on 2026-09-19 against these English Wikipedia articles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_Mayo (May 5, 1862; a smaller, poorly equipped Mexican army defeated the French; Juárez declared the holiday on May 9, 1862; not a statutory national holiday in Mexico today; reenactments and an international festival in Puebla; mistaken for Independence Day, September 16; Columbia, California, in 1862; parades in Los Angeles and San Francisco in 1863; baile folklórico and mariachi near Olvera Street), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Puebla (forts of Loreto and Guadalupe; fighting from noon until seven in the evening; two hours of shelling; three failed uphill attacks; cavalry under cover of a maguey field; cavalry charge; landing at Veracruz; the two-year pause on debt payments from July 1861; Zaragoza awarded a sword; the city renamed Puebla de Zaragoza), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacio_Zaragoza (born March 24, 1829 at Bahía del Espíritu Santo, now Goliad, Texas; died September 8, 1862), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Ju%C3%A1rez (first Indigenous president of Mexico), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_III (emperor 1852 to 1870), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_I_of_Mexico (emperor 1864 to 1867), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puebla_(city) (some 100 km to the east-southeast of Mexico City), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cry_of_Dolores and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Hidalgo_y_Costilla (church bell, September 16, 1810), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariachi (as many as eight violins, two trumpets, at least one guitar, vihuela and guitarrón; charro outfits; singers take turns), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarr%C3%B3n_mexicano (six strings, fretless), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_vihuela (five strings), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charro , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sombrero (Spanish for hat; brim shades head, neck and shoulders), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baile_folkl%C3%B3rico , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarabe_Tapat%C3%ADo (national dance; Guadalajara; stepping around the hat brim), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapateado_(Mexico) , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi%C3%B1ata , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papel_picado (San Salvador Huixcolotla, Puebla, considered its birthplace), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia,_California , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_(sauce) (mole poblano the best known, native to Puebla), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poblano , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemita , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortilla , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maize (domesticated some 9,000 years ago in southern Mexico), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taco , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamale , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsa_(food) , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avocado , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomatillo , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalape%C3%B1o , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper (first cultivated in Mexico; from Nahuatl), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enchilada , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quesadilla , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horchata , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa_bean (beans a common currency in Mesoamerica), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nopal , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiles_en_nogada (from Puebla; green, white and red), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachos (1943, Piedras Negras), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Mexico , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Mexico (golden eagle eating a rattlesnake on a prickly pear cactus), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztecs , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahuatl (about 1.7 million speakers), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_peso (introduced 1863; 100 centavos), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popocat%C3%A9petl (5,393 m; second highest peak in Mexico; Smoking Mountain), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talavera_pottery , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Cholula (largest pyramid by volume; 4 miles west of Puebla; adobe brick), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahlia (national flower, 1963) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly (1,200 to 2,800 miles to the mountain forests of central Mexico). Spanish words and the unaccented English spellings pinata, jalapeno and guitarron were checked on Wiktionary the same day. Licence: own work