The Spanish word 'vajilla', meaning 'tableware' or 'dishes', traces back to the Latin word 'vas' meaning 'vessel'. From 'vas', the diminutive form 'vascellum' was created, meaning 'small vessel'. This then developed into the Late Latin 'vascella', which referred to a 'collection of vessels'. Finally, this evolved into the modern Spanish 'vajilla', maintaining the collective meaning to refer to a complete set of tableware or dishes.

A related Spanish word is 'vaso', which comes from the same Latin root 'vas'. While 'vajilla' refers to the entire set of tableware, 'vaso' specifically means 'drinking glass' or 'cup', representing a single vessel for drinking.

The English word 'vessel' is a cousin of 'vajilla', as it also derives from the Latin 'vas'. While 'vajilla' specialized to mean tableware, 'vessel' retained a broader meaning in English, referring to any container, especially one for holding liquids, and later extended metaphorically to include ships and even blood vessels in anatomy.