Editing Taco (section)

==Etymology==
The origins of the taco are not precisely known, and etymologies for the culinary usage of the word are generally theoretical.<ref name="smithsonian">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Where-Did-the-Taco-Come-From.html |title=Where Did the Taco Come From? |magazine=Smithsonian Magazine |access-date=2012-05-16 |archive-date=2012-05-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512022734/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Where-Did-the-Taco-Come-From.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Tacos|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Latino Culture: From Calaveras to Quinceaneras [3 Volumes]|publisher=Greenwood / ABC-CLIO|id=enc-lat-cult|date=2013|editor-last=Tatum|editor-first=Charles M.|series=Cultures of the American Mosaic|volume=1|pages=495–497}}</ref> ''Taco'' in the sense of a typical Mexican dish comprising a [[maize]] [[tortilla]] folded around food is just one of the meanings connoted by the word, according to the [[Real Academia Española]], publisher of ''[[Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española|Diccionario de la Lengua Española]].''<ref name="DRAE">{{cite web|url=http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltConsulta?TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=taco|title=Definition: Taco|publisher=Real Academia Española|quote=Tortilla de maíz enrollada con algún alimento dentro, típica de México.|access-date=2008-06-13|archive-date=2012-06-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616093710/http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltConsulta?TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=taco|url-status=live}}</ref> This meaning of the Spanish word "taco" is a Mexican innovation,<ref name=":1" /> but the word "taco" is used in other contexts to mean "wedge; wad, plug; billiard cue; blowpipe; ramrod; short, stocky person; [or] short, thick piece of wood."<ref name="DRAE"/> The etymological origin of this sense of the word is Germanic and has cognates in other European languages, including the French word {{Lang|fr|tache}} and the English word "tack".<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Taco|date=1887|encyclopedia=Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española|url=https://archive.org/details/diccionariogener05echeuoft/page/n3/mode/1up?q=taco|last=de Echegaray|first=Eduardo|publication-place=Madrid|volume=5|page=481|language=Spanish|trans-title=Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language|type=Scanned book|format=}}</ref>

In Spain, the word "taco" can also be used in the context of ''{{ill|tacos de jamón|es}}'':  these are diced pieces of ham, or sometimes bits and shavings of ham leftover after a larger piece is sliced.<ref>Jesús Ventanas, ''El jamón Ibérico. De la dehesa al paladar.'', Ediciones Mundi-Prensa, 2006, p. 102.</ref> They can be served on their own as [[tapas]] or street food, or can be added to other dishes such as [[salmorejo]], [[omelettes]], [[stews]], [[empanadas]], or ''{{ill|melón con jamón|es}}''.<ref>Julio César, (2011), ''El gran libro de las tapas'', Ed. Grupo Salsa, 2011, p. 45.</ref><ref>Jesús Ventanas, ''Tecnología del jamón Ibérico: de los sistemas tradicionales a la explotación del aroma y del sabor,'' 1st ed., Ediciones Mundi-Prensa, 2001, p. 193.</ref><ref>José Bello Gutiérrez, ''Jamón curado: Aspectos científicos y tecnológicos'', Editorial Díaz de Santos, 2012, p. 239.</ref>

According to one etymological theory, the culinary origin of the term "taco" in Mexico can be traced to its employment, among Mexican silver miners, as a term signifying "plug." The miners used explosive charges in plug form, consisting of a paper wrapper and gunpowder filling.<ref name="smithsonian" />

Indigenous origins are also proposed. One possibility is that the word derives from the [[Nahuatl]] word {{Lang|nah|tlahco}}, meaning "half" or "in the middle",<ref name="Karttunen" /> in the sense that food would be placed in the middle of a tortilla.<ref>[http://www.nexos.com.mx/?p=21200 Florilegio Verbal Náhuatl] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925072628/http://www.nexos.com.mx/?p=21200 |date=2017-09-25 }}, Nexos, Mar. 12, 2016</ref> Furthermore, dishes analogous to the taco were known to have existed in [[Pre-Columbian era|Pre-Columbia]]n society—for example, the Nahuatl word {{Lang|nah|tlaxcalli}} (a type of corn tortilla).<ref name="Karttunen">{{cite book   | title = An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl | author= Frances E. Karttunen |publisher = University of Oklahoma Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=s4LURGT0h2AC | date = 1983  | isbn = 9780806124216 | access-date = 14 March 2016 }}</ref>