'peyotl' originates from Nahuatl, specifically the word 'peyōtl', where 'peyōtl' meant 'peyote (the intoxicating plant)'.

'peyōtl' passed into Spanish as 'peyote' and was then borrowed into English as 'peyote' and occasionally transliterated back to the Nahuatl form 'peyotl'.

Initially it meant 'the peyote plant' in Nahuatl; the meaning in English has remained close, referring both to the plant and to the psychoactive substance derived from it.