If you or your child has a peanut or nut allergy, identifying the presence of nuts in food becomes a priority, but what if the written or spoken language where you are is not English? You may want to familiarize yourself with words or phrases identifying nuts or peanuts in the non-English languages of your locality, or areas you might be traveling to.
Spanish: Cachuate, Cacahuete, and Mani
For instance, you might avoid an allergy episode by knowing that cacahuete, cachuate, or mani are Spanish words for peanut. Mantequilla or crema de cachuate (or mani, or cacahuete) means peanut butter. Peanut oil will be aceite de cachuate (or mani, or cacahuete).
The Spanish word for a nut (food) is la nuez; the plural is nueces. The phrase “brownies with nuts in them” in Spanish would be “los brownies con nueces.” Allergy translates in Spanish to alergia.
Two helpful phrases to know:
- Are there nuts in this? Esto contiene nueces?
- I am allergic to nuts. Soy alergico a los nueces (male). Soy alergica a los nueces (female).
For proper punctuation and pronunciation of these two phrases in Spanish (and other languages), click the “nut free ninja” link below.
Names of common nuts, English to Spanish:
- Almond: almendra
- Cashew: anacardo
- Walnut: nuez
- Hazelnut: aveilana
- Macadamia: nuez de macadamia
- Brazil: la nuez de Brasil
English to French
- Allergy: allergie
- Nuts: noix, noisettes, fruit a coque, amande
- Peanuts: cacahuete, cacahouete, arachide
- Peanut butter: beurre de cacahuete, beurre de cacahouete
- Almonds: amande
- Cashews: noix de cajou
- Walnut: noix
- Are there nuts in this? Ce plat contient-il des noix?
- I am allergic to nuts and peanuts. Je suis allergique aux fruits a coque et aux arachides.
English to Italian
- Allergy: allergia
- Nuts: noce, nocciola, gheriglio (kermel)
- Peanuts: noccioline, arachidi
- Peanut butter: burro di arachidi
- Almonds: mandoria
- Cashews: anacardio
- Walnut: noce
- Are there nuts in this? Ci sono noci in questo?
- I am allergic to peanuts and all types of nuts. Io sono allergico alle arachidi e tutti i tipi di noci.
As you can see, some of the words for nuts and peanuts are similar across different languages. Becoming familiar with two or three languages can help you recognize allergy-related words in others.