The Spanish word 'chamaquito' meaning 'little child' comes from combining 'chamaco' (meaning 'child' or 'youngster') with the diminutive suffix '-ito'. The word 'chamaco' itself has interesting origins, deriving from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word 'chamahuac' which meant 'grown' or 'plump'. This semantic shift from 'plump' to 'child' likely occurred because of the association of healthy, well-fed children being plump in traditional societies.

The simpler and more common Spanish word 'chamaco' is directly related to 'chamaquito', as it's the base word to which the diminutive suffix '-ito' was added. While 'chamaco' means 'child' or 'youngster', adding '-ito' makes it more endearing and emphasizes the smallness or youth of the child. This follows a common Spanish pattern where '-ito' is added to create diminutive forms, like 'perro' (dog) becoming 'perrito' (little dog).

Since 'chamaquito' comes from Nahuatl origins rather than Latin or Greek roots, there aren't any closely related English words. However, English has borrowed some other Nahuatl words, such as 'chocolate' (from 'xocolatl'), 'tomato' (from 'tomatl'), and 'avocado' (from 'ahuacatl'), though these aren't etymologically related to 'chamaquito'.