The crisps[BrEn]/chips[AmEn] that are made of corn (and probably not deep-fried) are called tortilla:
The wraps with that special taste, are called tortila:
And then, the omelet-like meal is called tortilla!
I can understand that the first usage is probably derived from the second, since I saw something saying that frying the wraps, you can make the chips; but the third usage is not related to these two at all.
What's the commonality among these three that has made the English use the same word for all of them? Or is it just a random confusion/carelessness after borrowing the edible + the name from Mexican and Spanish in different periods of time?
Best Answer
I think on one level it's fairly simple: because the Spanish word for all three is the same, too. The Diccionario de la lengua española gives the omelette sense first, with no particular localisation (although it is often called tortilla española and originates from Spain); then the wrap sense, which is localised to Central America, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Tortilla chips (as they are usually called even in British English, in my experience) are just fried corn tortilla wraps, as you say.
The DRAE doesn't give etymologies, but tortilla is diminutive of torta, which generally refers to a round flatbread but also has various other local meanings. It seems that roundness and flat(ish)ness may be all that they have in common.
Getting back to English, I would say that following @Peter Shor's comment, most Brits would also call these tortilla chips, tortillas (or tortilla wraps) and Spanish omelettes, respectively.