Spanish words that start with X: Rare but fascinating

When it comes to the alphabet, Spanish words that start with X are rare but intriguing. This letter has a unique and significant history in Spanish, with roots that trace back to ancient languages. Today, the letter X is commonly found in technical, scientific, or historical terms, adding a rich historical layer to the language. Despite its scarcity in everyday vocabulary, Spanish words that start with X have significance in fields such as music, art, and even medicine.

In our post on how to pronounce the letter X in Spanish, we explored the history behind its diverse pronunciations and provided some examples of Spanish words that contain the letter X. In today’s post, we’ll take a deeper dive into Spanish words that start with X. We’ll divide our Spanish X words into categories of nouns, adjectives, and verbs, with examples to see how these rare but essential words fit into the broader Spanish language.

X in Spanish: Pronunciation

Unlike most letters in Spanish whose pronunciations are always the same, the Spanish X can vary depending on the word. In most words, the X in Spanish is pronounced like in English, as a combination of the /k/ and /s/ sounds.

In words from indigenous languages like Nahuatl, the X sounds like a strong H. This explains the pronunciations of the country of México or of its southern state Oaxaca.

In words with European origins, the Spanish X is sometimes pronounced like an S. We see this in such common words as éxito, meaning success, or examen, meaning test. On the other hand, when the X appears between two vowels, it’s usually pronounced like KS, as in taxista, which is a taxi driver.

Again, for a full lesson on pronunciation, along with more of the history of the letter X in Spanish, head over to our post on the history and pronunciation of X in Spanish. For the rest of this post, our focus will be on Spanish words that start with X!

Spanish words that start with X are rare in daily conversations. As mentioned above, they mostly belong to specific contexts like science, culture, or indigenous languages. Let’s take a look at our different groupings of words in Spanish that start with X!

Nouns that start with X

Nouns that start with X in Spanish are uncommon but fascinating. Most of them come from scientific, indigenous, or technical contexts. Many of these nouns reflect the rich history of language borrowing, and the blending of indigenous and modern influences in Spanish.

Here are some nouns starting with X in Spanish. Since many of these nouns are fairly obscure, we’ve included an additional column with an explanation of their meanings.

• El xoloitzcuintle es un perro sin pelo originario de México. – The Xoloitzcuintle is a hairless dog from Mexico.

• La xantofila es la sustancia responsable del color amarillo en las hojas. – Xanthophyll is the substance responsible for the yellow color in leaves.

• El xenón se usa en lámparas de alta intensidad. – Xenon is used in high intensity lamps.

In regions of Mexico with Aztec heritage, there’s a lot of pride around the Xoloitzcuintli

Adjectives that start with X

Adjectives in Spanish that start with the letter X are even less common than nouns, appearing only in specialized or technical fields. Since these words are so obscure in both languages, we’re providing explanations of each one.

* This adjective is invariable. All the other adjectives change form to respect the gender and number of the nouns they modify.

• Los estudios xenogenéticos son importantes para la biología. – Xenogenetic studies are important for biology.

• La piel xantocrómica puede ser señal de una enfermedad. – Xanthochromic skin can be a sign of disease.

• El artista realizó una impresión xilográfica. – The artist made a xylographic print.

Verbs that start with X

Verbs starting with X are essentially nonexistent in Spanish. In fact, the Royal Spanish Academy only acknowledges two verbs that start with X, both of which are adopted versions of the English word to xerox.

Just like in English, xerocopiar and xerografiar are informal ways to refer to photocopying a document. Likewise, it’s much more common to just use fotocopiar in Spanish, just as you normally use to photocopy in English. All three of these Spanish verbs follow regular -ar conjugation rules.

• Ella xerocopia el libro sobre la xenofobia. – She xerocopies the book on xenophobia.

• La impresora usa una tecnología avanzada para xerografiar las imágenes en alta calidad. – The printer uses advanced technology to xerocopy the images in high quality.

Conclusion: Spanish words that start with X

X-cellent job! We’ve just covered all the Spanish words that start with X! Let’s do a quick recap before we finish our post.

Today we explored the world of words in Spanish that start with X. We started with some basics of pronunciation, and then got into our vocab lists for nouns and verbs, and ended with the only two verbs in Spanish that start with X.

Though words that start with X in Spanish are quite rare, we’ve seen how they play an essential role in technical and scientific terms. Today’s exploration of Spanish X words shows the richness of the language, proving that even rare letters hold a unique role in expanding and shaping Spanish communication!