While the exact number remains up for debate, many linguists estimate that there are more than a million words in the English language. An even tougher number to pin down is how many of those words we technically have the right to claim as our own. The truth is, many of the words we use on a regular basis are actually borrowed from other languages—French, Japanese, Spanish, and Yiddish, to name a few. And some of these foreign-language words—also known as «loanwords»—are so woven into our lexicons that we don’t even realize they’re actually not of English origins.
In English, we use the word «genre» to describe a work of art characterized by a particular style, like horror, romance, comedy, and so on. The word, however, comes straight to us from the French language. In French, genre literally translates to «gender,» but it also roughly translates to «type,» which explains its context in the English language.
While Americans no doubt love chocolate, the word doesn’t have origins in the English language. Instead, it was translated to English from Spanish via Nahuatl—the language spoken by the people living in central Mexico during the time of the Spanish conquest. In that language, the word chocolātl was first used to describe a «beverage made by heating cocoa with water or milk,» like hot chocolate.
If you like fumbling through embarrassing renditions 0f your favorite songs in front of friends and strangers then you have Japan to thank for the opportunity to do so. «Karaoke» combines the Japanese words kara—meaning «empty»—and okesutura, meaning «orchestra.» The polarizing pastime was a favorite among Japanese businessmen in the ’70s before gaining popularity in the U.S. in the late ’80s.
Patio is a Spanish word that refers to the courtyards within buildings, which were popular features in medieval Spanish architecture. Spelled the same in English, the word is typically used in reference to seating areas homeowners have in their backyards.
The word «klutz»—commonly used in the English language to describe a clumsy person—actually has Yiddish origins. It comes from klots, which translates to «wooden beam.»
The education class many children in the U.S. attend between preschool and first grade is called kindergarten—a German word that literally means «children’s garden.» The concept was created in Germany in 1837 by 19th century educator Friedrich Froebel.
Commonly used to describe someone who starts their own business, this word is lifted from the French term entreprendre, which means «to undertake.» As an entrepreneur, you’re literally undertaking your own enterprise.
Mosquitos may be a pests all over the world, but their name a a Spanish word that translates directly to «little fly» or «little gnat.»
While it’s used to describe those streets that are closed off at one end in suburban neighborhoods across the U.S., in France—where the term originated—cul-de-sac literally means «bottom of the bag.»
You know it’s the thing you do when responding to an invitation, but maybe not that it is actually an acronym for the French phrase, répondez s’il vous plaî, which mean «please reply.»
In English, «vigilante» describes someone who volunteers willingly to fight or suppress crime, often outside the parameters of the law. It entered our vocabulary in the 19th century and come from vigilante—the Spanish term for a «watchman and guard»— and can be traced back to the Latin word vigilare, which means «to keep awake.»
«Sofa,» another word for a «couch» in the English language is originally a Turkish word meaning «raised section of a floor, covered with carpets and cushions.» And the Turkish word sofa comes from the Arabic term suffah meaning «bench of stone or wood.»
Often used to describes feelings of anger, apprehension, and insecurity during ones teenage years, the word «angst» originated as a German word that means «distress, worry, and anxiety.»
The word «diesel,» which describes both a type of fuel and a type of engine, also has German origins—Rudolf Diesel, a German mechanical engineer in the late 1800s and the inventor of the Diesel engine.
Although a staple in most American kitchens, the name for this tomato condiment didn’t actually originate in the U.S. Instead it comes from the Hokkien Chinese word kê-tsiap, which is a sauce made from fermented fish, according to National Geographic.
The full name of this dog breed is Welsh corgi, so it’s no surprise that the name doesn’t have English origins. Instead it combines the Welsh words of cor meaning «dwarf» and ci meaning «dog.»
While cookies are beloved in the states, the word doesn’t derive from the English word «cook.» The word for these delicious treats came to us from the Dutch language—koekjes means «little cakes,» and is derived from koek, which simply means «cake.»
This shortened form of the German word delikatessen—which translates to «ready-to-eat foods»—has origins that trace back to the French word délicatesse, meaning «delicacy.»
We have the Arabic language to thank for the name of this yellow citrus fruit. In fact, the words «lemon» and «lime» come from the Arabic words laymūn and līm, respectively.
The word for that body art on your bicep is the English adaptation of the Polynesian word tatau, which means «mark made on the skin.» Makes sense to us!
The word «mammoth» is both the name a long-extinct animal and a term for anything extremely large in size. It came to us via the Dutch word mammut by way of the Russian term mammot, which means «large, terrible beast.»
In 1870s, Irish farmers faced a crisis that could result in a terrible famine similar to that of the 1840s. In order to prevent this, they formed a group that campaigned against rent increases and evictions landlords were proposing. Charles Boycott, a British army captain, was an agent for an absentee landlord at the time and was ostracized by the community when he tried to evict farmers for not paying rent. As a result, his name became the word we now use to describe that protest strategy.
Used to describe both an era and the style that is reminiscent of that era, renaissance is the French word for «rebirth.» And digging even deeper, its origins are in the Old French word renaistre, which translates to English as «to be born again.»
The word «glitch» describes a «minor malfunction,» usually in terms of electronics. And while its origins are still up for debate, many linguists believe it came from the Yiddish word glitsh—meaning «slippery place» in English.
«Defined as «praise given for achievement,» this word originates from the Greek term kydos, which translates as «fame, renown, and glory.»
«Brunette,» which is used in English to describe someone with brown hair, is directly taken from France. However, in French, brunette is a feminine word for a woman with brown hair. If you were describing a man with brown hair in French, you would use the masculine variation: brunet.
«Souvenir» is another French word—describing something kept as a reminder, it literally means «act of remembering.»
The concept of nothing in reference to an amount of something comes to us from the Arabic word ṣifr, a term that was coined by Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khowarizmi in the ninth century. It came to us as «zero» from Medieval Latin zephirum via French and Italian.
The word «alcohol» also comes to us from the Arabic language. It was derived from al-kuhl, which in Arabic referred to a powdered antimony that was used as eye paint. So, when the word «alcohol» first entered the English language, it described powders such as «kohl,» not the liquid substance we know today.
In English, «boss» describes a person who holds authority and typically manages a group of people in a professional context. The word was directly lifted from the Dutch term baas, meaning «master,» and was first used as «boss» in the early 1800s by Washington Irving.
«Landscape» can describe many different things in the English language, from scenery to the perspective of a photograph is taken. Regardless of what context its used in, the word itself comes from the Dutch term landschap, which combines the terms land and schap, or «land-ship.»
This delicious breakfast food is also brought to us courtesy of the Dutch. Wafel comes from the Proto-Germanic word wabila, meaning «web» or «honeycomb,» which makes sense when you look at the shape and texture of the next waffle you find yourself chowing down on.
No, we’re not talking about the salad dressing, but an area of farmland used for raising horses or cattle that takes its name from the Mexican Spanish word rancho, which literally translates to «small ranch.»
New York City may be the unofficial bagel capital of the U.S., but the actual name for the doughy roll comes from the Yiddish word beygl.
«Shampoo,» which is both a noun for the hair product and a verb for washing your hair with that product, comes from the Hindi and Urdu languages. It’s from the word cā̃po, which is an imperative of the word cā̃pnā, meaning «to press» or «massage.» As in, you massage shampoo into your hair.
A loanword (or «loan word») is a word directly taken into one language from another with little or no translation. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept whereby it is the meaning or idiom that is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word «loanword» is itself a calque of the German «Lehnwort», [ [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=loan Online Etymology Dictionary] ] while «calque» is a loanword from French. Loanwords can also be called «borrowings».
Classes of borrowed words
Certain classes of words are more commonly borrowed than others, usually words for exotic concepts or ideas. What is «exotic» varies from language to language. Thus, English names for creatures not native to Great Britain are almost always loanwords, and most of the technical vocabulary referring to classical music is borrowed from Italian.
By contrast, function words such as pronouns, numbers, and words referring to universal concepts, are usually not borrowed, but have been in some cases, eg. English «they» from Old Norse «».
Classification of borrowings
The studies by Werner Betz (1949, 1959), Einar Haugen (1950, also 1956), and Uriel Weinreich (1953) are regarded as the classical theoretical works on loan influence [Cf. the two survey articles by Oksaar (1996: 4f.), Stanforth (2002) and Grzega (2003, 2004).] . The basic theoretical statements all depart from Betz’s nomenclature. Duckworth (1977) enlarges Betz’s scheme by the type “partial substitution” and supplements the system with English terms [The following comments and examples are taken from Grzega, Joachim (2004), «Bezeichnungswandel: Wie, Warum, Wozu?», Heidelberg: Winter, p. 139, and Grzega, Joachim (2003), [http://www1.ku-eichstaett.de/SLF/EngluVglSW/grzega1032.pdf “Borrowing as a Word-Finding Process in Cognitive Historical Onomasiology”] , » [http://www.onomasiology.de Onomasiology Online] » 4: 22-42.] :
# importation
## foreign word = non-integrated word from a foreign language, e.g. E «café» (from French); Sp. «whisk(e)y» (from English) (*the word whiskey in fact comes from the Irish phrase «uisce beatha» which means the water of life, «aqua vitae»); E ‘ (< G ‘); It. «mouse» ‘computer device’ (< E «mouse» ‘rodent; computer device’).
## loan word = integrated word from a foreign language, e.g. E «music» (from French «musique»); Sp. «chófer» (from French «chauffeur»).
# partial substitution: composite words, in which one part is borrowed, another one substituted, e.g. OE «Saturnes dæg» ‘Saturday’ (< Lat. «Saturni dies»), G «Showgeschäft» ‘literally: show-business’ (< E «show business»), G «Live-Sendung» ‘literally: live-broadcast’ (< E «live broadcast»).
# substitution
## loan coinage
### loan formation
#### loan translation = translation of the elements of the foreign word, e.g. OE «Monan dæg» ‘Monday’ (< Lat. «Lunae dies»), Fr. «gratte-ciel» and Sp. «rasca·cielos» ‘both literally: scrape-sky’ (< E «skyscraper»), E «world view» (< G «Welt·anschauung»), AmSp. «manzana de Adán» (< E «Adam’s apple»; vs. EurSp. «nuez [de la garganta] » ‘literally: nut [of the throat] ’).
#### loan rendering = translation of part of the elements of the foreign word, e.g. E «brother·hood» (< Lat. «frater·nitas» [= Lat. «frater» ‘brother’ + suffix] ) .
### loan creation coinage independent of the foreign word, but created out of the desire to replace a foreign word, e.g. E «brandy» (< Fr. «cognac»).
## loan meaning = indigenous word to which the meaning of the foreign word is transferred, e.g. OE «cniht» ‘servant + disciple of Jesus’ (< Lat. «discipulus» ‘student, disciple of Jesus’), OE «heofon» ‘sky, abode of the gods + Christian heaven’ (< Lat. «caelum» ‘sky, abode of the gods, Christian heaven’), G «Maus» and Fr «souris» ‘rodent + computer device’ (< E «mouse» ‘rodent, computer device’).
On the basis of an importation-substitution distinction, Haugen (1950: 214f.) distinguishes three basic groups of borrowings: “(1) «Loanwords» show morphemic importation without substitution. [. . .] . (2) «Loanblends» show morphemic substitution as well as importation. [. . .] . (3) «Loanshifts» show morphemic substitution without importation”. Haugen has later refined (1956) his model in a review of Gneuss’s (1955) book on Old English loan coinages, whose classification, in turn, is the one by Betz (1949) again.
Weinreich (1953: 47ff.) differentiates between two mechanisms of lexical interference, namely those initiated by simple words and those initiated by compound words and phrases. Weinreich (1953: 47) defines «simple words» “from the point of view of the bilinguals who perform the transfer, rather than that of the descriptive linguist. Accordingly, the category ‘simple’ words also includes compounds that are transferred in unanalysed form”. After this general classification, Weinreich then resorts to Betz’s (1949) terminology.
Models that try to integrate borrowing in an overall classification of vocabulary change, or onomasiological change, have recently been proposed by Peter Koch (2002) and Joachim Grzega (2003, 2004).
Ghil’ad Zuckermann’s analysis of multisourced neologization (2003) [Zuckermann, Ghil’ad (2003), [http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?is=140391723X ‘‘Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew’’] , Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.] challenges Einar Haugen’s classic typology of lexical borrowing [Haugen, Einar (1950), «The Analysis of Linguistic Borrowing», «Language» 26, pp. 210-231.] . While Haugen categorizes borrowing into either substitution or importation, Zuckermann explores cases of «simultaneous substitution and importation» in the form of camouflaged borrowing. He proposes a new classification of multisourced neologisms, words deriving from two or more sources at the same time. Examples of such mechanisms are phonetic matching, semanticized phonetic matching and phono-semantic matching. Phono-semantic matching is distinct from calquing. While calquing includes (semantic) translation, it does not consist of phonetic matching (i.e. retaining the approximate sound of the borrowed word through matching it with a similar-sounding pre-existent word/morpheme in the target language).
Beyond words
Idiomatic expressions and phrases, sometimes translated word-for-word, can be borrowed, usually from a language that has «prestige» at the time. Often, a borrowed idiom is used as a euphemism for a less polite term in the original language. In English, this has usually been Latinisms from the Latin language and Gallicisms from French. If the phrase is translated word-for-word, it is known as a calque.
Loanwords in English
English has many loanwords. In 1973, a computerised survey of about 80,000 words in the old Shorter Oxford Dictionary (3rd edition) was published in «Ordered Profusion» by Thomas Finkenstaedt and Dieter Wolff. Their estimates for the origin of English words were as follows:
* French and Norman, including Old French, Old Norman, Anglo-French and Anglo-Norman: 28.3%
* Latin, including modern scientific and technical Latin: 28.24%
* Germanic languages, including Old and Middle English: 25%
* Greek: 5.32%
* No etymology given or unknown: 4.03%
* Derived from proper names: 3.28%
* All other languages contributed less than 1%
However, if the frequency of use of words is considered, words from Old and Middle English occupy the vast majority.
The reasons for English’s vast borrowing include:
* (to a relatively small extent) the existence of other languages native to Britain;
* the invasion of England by the Vikings and the Normans;
* its modern importance; and
* the flexibility of its syllable structure.
This lack of restrictions makes it comparatively easy for the English language to incorporate new words. However, the English pronunciations of loanwords often differ from the original pronunciations to such a degree that a native speaker of the language it was borrowed from is not able to recognize it as a loanword when spoken.
English has often borrowed words from the cultures and languages of the British Colonies. For example, words borrowed from Hindi include syce/sais, dinghy, chutney, pundit, wallah, pajama/pyjamas, bungalow and jodhpur. Other examples include trek, aardvark, laager, wildebeest and veld from Afrikaans, shirang, amok (Malay) and sjambok (Malay via Afrikaans).
English also acquires loanwords in which foreign sounds are part of the foreign pronunciation. For example, the Hawaiian word «okinaaokinaā» is used by geologists to specify lava that is relatively thick, chunky, and rough. The Hawaiian spelling indicates the two glottal stops in the word, but the usual English pronunciation, IPA| [ˈɑ.ɑ] , does not contain the glottal stop. In addition, the English spelling usually removes the okina and macron diacritic [citebook|last=Elbert|first=Samuel H.|last2=Pukui|first2=Mark Kawena|title=Hawaiian Dictionary|place=Honolulu|publisher=University of Hawaiokinai Press|year=1986|edition=revised and enlarged edition|isbn=0824807030|page=389] .
Affixes
The majority of English affixes, such as «un-«, «-ing», and «-ly», were present in older forms in Old English. However, a few English affixes are borrowed. For example, the agentive suffix -er, which is very prolific, is borrowed ultimately from Latin. The English verbal suffix «-ize» comes from Greek -ιζειν via Latin «-izare».
Other languages
Direct loans, expressions translated word-by-word, or even grammatical constructions and orthographical conventions from English are called anglicisms. Similarly, loans from Swedish — like the word smörgåsbord — are called sveticisms or svecismsFact|date=October 2007. In French, the result of perceived over-use of English loanwords and expressions is called franglais. English loanwords in French include ‘le weekend’, ‘le job’ (in France) or ‘la job’ (in Canada) and ‘le biftek’ (beefsteak). Denglisch is English influence on German. Another popular term is Spanglish, the English influence on the Spanish language and Dunglish the English influence on the Dutch language.
During the Ottoman period, Turkish literature became heavily influenced by Persian and Arabic borrowings. During more than 600 years of the Ottoman Empire, the literary and official language of the empire was a mixture of Turkish, Persian, and Arabic, which is now called Ottoman Turkish, considerably differing from the everyday spoken Turkish of the time. Many Turkish, Persian and Arabic words were also loaned to other languages of the empire, such as Bulgarian and Serbian. After the empire fell in World War I and the Republic of Turkey was founded, the Turkish language underwent an extensive language reform led by the newly founded Turkish Language Association, during which many loanwords were replaced with equivalent words derived from Turkic roots. The language reform was a part of the ongoing cultural reform of the time, in turn a part in the broader framework of Atatürk’s Reforms, and included the introduction of the new Turkish alphabet. Turkish also has many loanwords derived from French, such as «pantalon» for ‘trousers’ and «komik» for ‘funny’ (from Fr. «comique»), all of them pronounced very similarly (except for the French pronunciation of the letter ‘r’).
The Italian government has recently expressed its displeasure over the borrowing of English words and syntax in Italian. English words are often used where they are more convenient than a longer Italian expression, as in «computer» for «elaboratore elettronico» or «week-end» for «finesettimana»; but also where equally convenient Italian words already exist, as in «fashion» for «moda» and «meeting» for «conferenza».
Words are occasionally borrowed with a different meaning than the meaning in the source language. Among the most well-known examples of this is the German word «Handy», which is a borrowing of the English adjective «handy», but means mobile phone and is thus a noun. Conversely, in English the prefix «über-«, taken from German, is used in a way that it is rarely used in German.
Words borrowed into different languages are sometimes spelled as in the original language (such as many of the loanwords above). Sometimes loanwords retain original (or near-original) pronunciation, but undergo a spelling change to represent the orthography of the adopting language. Welsh is a language where this is done with some consistency, with words like «gêm» (game), «cwl» (cool), and «ded-gifawe» (dead giveaway).
Some languages, such as Jèrriais, have a tendency to apply historical sound-shift patterns to new borrowed words; while Jèrriais speakers would have little difficulty pronouncing «parki», «partchi» (to park) is the word used, displaying the typical Norman ki->tchi shift.
Most languages modify loanwords to fit native pronunciation patterns. An excellent example of this is Japanese. Japanese contains a tremendous amount of loanwords (gairaigo). Ignoring ancient influence from China, recently most Gairaigo has come from English, though there have been significant borrowings from Dutch, German and other languages. There are almost always significant pronunciation shifts (baseball -> beisubaru). Longer terms often are shortened (word processor -> wapuro). In some cases the original meaning shifts considerably through unexpected logical leaps (smorgasboard -> baikingu (Viking): the word smorgasboard is of Norse origin). In other cases the words are borrowed and used in totally inexplicable contexts, with words picked seemingly at random. This is often the case in the names of small businesses, or in artistic works as seen in many anime and manga series such as Bubblegum Crisis. Gairaigo is such a large part of the modern Japanese vocabulary that there are specialized dictionaries for it.
Reborrowing
It is possible for a word to travel from one language to another and then back to the original language in a different form, a process called «reborrowing». A specific example of this is the French «le biftek», which is borrowed from the English «beefsteak», while the English «beef» is originally from the Norman (cf. French «le bœuf»).
Another example of this is found in Northern Africa where the Spanish word «Zapato» is used for the word shoe. However, the word «Zapato» came from the Arabic word for shoe: «Sabbat» (سباط) which was borrowed by the Spanish when the Islamic Arabs were living in Andalusia (modern day Spain).
Literature
* Betz, Werner (1949): «Deutsch und Lateinisch: Die Lehnbildungen der althochdeutschen Benediktinerregel». Bonn: Bouvier.
*Betz, Werner (1959): “Lehnwörter und Lehnprägungen im Vor- und Frühdeutschen”. In: Maurer, Friedrich / Stroh, Friedrich (eds.): «Deutsche Wortgeschichte». 2nd ed. Berlin: Schmidt, vol. 1, 127-147.
*Cannon, Garland (1999): “Problems in studying loans”, «Proceedings of the annual meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society» 25, 326-336.
*Duckworth, David (1977): “Zur terminologischen und systematischen Grundlage der Forschung auf dem Gebiet der englisch-deutschen Interferenz: Kritische Übersicht und neuer Vorschlag”. In: Kolb, Herbert / Lauffer, Hartmut (eds.) (1977): Sprachliche Interferenz: Festschrift für Werner Betz zum 65. Geburtstag. Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 36-56.
*Gneuss, Helmut (1955): «Lehnbildungen und Lehnbedeutungen im Altenglischen». Berlin: Schmidt.
*Grzega, Joachim (2003): [http://www1.ku-eichstaett.de/SLF/EngluVglSW/grzega1032.pdf “Borrowing as a Word-Finding Process in Cognitive Historical Onomasiology”] , » [http://www.onomasiology.de Onomasiology Online] » 4, 22-42.
*Grzega, Joachim (2004): «Bezeichnungswandel: Wie, Warum, Wozu?» Heidelberg: Winter.
*Haugen, Einar (1950): “The analysic of linguistic borrowing”. «Language» 26, 210-231.
*Haugen, Einar (1956): “Review of Gneuss 1955”. «Language» 32, 761-766.
*Hitchings, Henry (2008): «The Secret Life of Words». London: John Murray.
*Koch, Peter (2002): “Lexical Typology from a Cognitive and Linguistic Point of View”. In: Cruse, D. Alan et al. (eds.): «Lexicology: An International on the Nature and Structure of Words and Vocabularies/Lexikologie: Ein internationales Handbuch zur Natur und Struktur von Wörtern und Wortschätzen». Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1142-1178.
*Oksaar, Els (1996): “The history of contact linguistics as a discipline”. In: Goebl, Hans et al. (eds.): «Kontaktlinguistik/contact linguistics/linguistique de contact: ein internationales Handbuch zeitgenössischer Forschung/an international handbook of contemporary research/manuel international des recherches contemporaines». Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1-12.
*Stanforth, Anthony W. (2002): “Effects of language contact on the vocabulary: an overview”. In: Cruse, D. Alan et al. (eds.) (2002): Lexikologie: ein internationales Handbuch zur Natur und Struktur von Wörtern und Wortschätzen/Lexicology: an international handbook on the nature and structure of words and vocabularies. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, p. 805-813.
* Weinreich, Uriel (1953): «Languages in contact: findings and problems». The Hague: Mouton.
*Zuckermann, Ghil’ad (2003), [http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?is=140391723X ‘‘Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew’’] , Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
See also
* Hybrid word
* Lists of English words of international origin
* List of replaced loanwords in Turkish
* Semantic loan
* Sino-Japanese vocabulary
* Sino-Korean vocabulary
* Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary
References
External links
* [http://www.transpacificradio.com/2006/11/07/words-on-words-big-debut-how-loan-words-exacerbate-future-shock-in-japan/ Discussion on how loan words exacerbate Future Shock] (Streaming audio & mp3)
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Languages freely borrow terms from each other. This usually occurs when a new object or institution is created for which the borrowing language lacks a word. If you are searching for what those words maybe, you are on the right page.
In this post, we will be providing you with answers to the question “What are loanwords?” and how loanwords came to be.
We will also be enumerating the different loanwords from other languages and explaining the importance of getting ourselves acquainted with them. Please continue reading.
Loanwords are words that have been borrowed from other languages and utilized by speakers of that language (the source language). A ‘borrowing’ is another term for a loan word. The process by which speakers incorporate words from a foreign language into their native tongue is referred to as abstract noun borrowing.
The terms ‘loan’ and ‘borrowing’ are both metaphors, as there is no such thing as a literal lending procedure. There is no translation from one language to another, and there are no words that ‘return’ to the originating language. They simply became popular within a linguistic community that spoke a language other than the one in which they originated.
Borrowing occurs when two language populations come into contact culturally. Word borrowing can occur in both ways between two languages in touch, although there is generally an asymmetry, with more words flowing from one side to the other. The source language community has some influence, reputation, and wealth in this situation, which makes the goods and ideas it brings appealing and beneficial to the borrowed language group.
Borrowing is a complicated procedure that requires numerous usage occurrences. In most cases, some speakers of the borrowed language are also fluent in the source language or at least know enough to use the appropriate words. When speaking the borrowed language, they use them. They may speak the words the same or similar to how they are pronounced in the source language if they are bilingual in the source language, which is typically the case.
Those who first use the new word may do so solely with speakers of the parent language who are already familiar with it, but eventually, they will use it with those who are unfamiliar with it. The word may appear ‘strange’ to these speakers. The word can be classified as a foreign word at this stage when the majority of speakers are unfamiliar with it and believe it comes from another language.
However, a novel foreign word might become more familiar to more speakers over time. The user community can expand to the point that even those with little or no knowledge of the original language can understand and utilize the new word. The new term becomes established.
What Is the Purpose of Borrowing Words from Other Languages?
Loanwords exist in all languages. What is the reason for this? The answer is complicated, involving past and current history, location, language size and power, and linguistic structure. Languages are generally influenced by their surroundings.
There is no language – or component of language – that is completely ‘loan-proof’. Any term in one language might theoretically be replaced with a word from another.
Here are the reasons and explanations why we borrow words from other languages.
- Loanwords contribute to the enrichment, expansion, and development of the language.
- Other languages may better convey a concept, such as ‘schadenfreude’ which means pleasure in the misery of others.
- To introduce a new idea/product/sport/food/etc. for which no English word exists, borrowing is required.
- There has never been a formally acknowledged national academy in an English-speaking country to oversee the terms of entering and leaving the language.
How Do Borrowed Words Work in English?
Words are borrowed and lent due to cultural contact between two communities that speak different languages. The dominant culture (or the culture seen to have more prestige) frequently donates more words than it borrows, resulting in an uneven exchange mechanism.
Many of the words that are borrowed are part of the dominant group’s material culture. Food, plants, animals, and tools travel with the people who use them, and the words used to describe them do as well.
It is no surprise that physical and linguistic exchanges occur when other cultures come into contact with those new people, their goods, and their language. Since these objects have corresponding names already, the borrowing culture prefers to use them rather than create new ones.
The new loanwords that the receiving language integrates into its lexicon frequently sound foreign at first. They may only be used by a small group of people until they gradually spread to more speakers over time. Pronunciation changes occur as a foreign word gets phonologically transformed to make it easier to utter in the language where it was borrowed from, a process known as naturalization or assimilation.
A loanword has been conventionalized when a large percentage of the population utters it on a regular basis, and what it is no longer needs to be defined and explained. Loanwords can either maintain traces of their former self (i.e., they can still be seen as foreign in some sense) or totally disappear into the new language. It is a loanword once the word no longer appears foreign.
Semantic Loan (Borrowing)
A semantic loan is related to the generation of calques in that it involves borrowing semantic meaning (rather than lexical objects) from another language.
However, in this scenario, the whole word in the borrowing language already exists; the difference is that its meaning is expanded to accommodate another meaning in the lending language that its existing translation contains.
When two languages are in close proximity, semantic loans are common and can take several forms. The source and target words could be cognates, which may or may not share any current meaning in common; they could be a loan translation or parallel construction (composite of matching terms); or they could be unrelated words with a shared meaning.
Loan Translation (Calque)
A calque (or loan translation) is a word-for-word translation from one language to another in linguistics. A calque is when you take a phrase in French and literally translate it into English root-for-root or word-for-word.
To calque, as a verb, means to take a phrase or word from another language and reassemble it into a new lexeme in the chosen language. It is a type of loan in which words or phrases are taken from another language and then translated into the target language. It means adhering to the target language’s syntactical structures.
By avoiding using foreign terms directly, calque contributes to the richness of a target language. Calque is a construction, not a loan, which is a phonological and morphologic modification.
The French term ‘souris’, which means ‘mouse’ (the animal), is a good example. When French speakers began speaking of computer mice after the English term mouse acquired the additional sense of ‘computer mouse’, they did so by expanding the meaning of their own word ‘souris’ in the same way that English speakers had extended the meaning of mouse.
It would have been a borrowing if French speakers had started using the term ‘mouse’; it would have been a calque if they had developed a new lexeme out of various French morphemes, as with ‘disque’ dur for ‘hard disk’.
Some Fun Facts About Loanwords
The people of the British Isles did not need borrowed terms before 1066. They spoke an Old English dialect of German. It has something to do with what we are talking about right now. France’s William the Conqueror invaded Britain in 1066. The nobles’ language became French. The common people, on the other hand, the common people continued to speak Old English.
As a result, English has acquired a dual vocabulary. Pork, for example, was a hit with everyone. The nobles referred to it as ‘porc’, while the common people referred to it as swine. In modern English, both words exist, although ‘pork’ is more prevalent. More words from various European countries seeped into English as Christianity flourished.
Here are some fun facts about borrowed words:
- The English language has borrowed words from up to 350 other languages.
- Although all languages borrow words, many of them alter the rules to meet their phonetics.
- Latin (29%), French (29%), Greek (6%), other languages (6%), and proper names (4%) are the languages from which present English is derived, meaning only 26% of today’s English is actually English.
- According to Dictionary.com, nearly 80% of the terms in an English dictionary were borrowed from another language.
- Overall, Latin is the most common source of loanwords, but French is the most important provider of new loanwords.
- When the alphabets are different, English transliterations normally rely on the source language to provide a starting point.
- Since World War II, English has surpassed all other languages as the largest exporter of loanwords, including ubiquitous terms like ‘OK’, ‘Internet’, and ‘hamburger’.
- Languages having richer grammar, such as German or Icelandic, are more hesitant to borrow because their grammar systems risk collapsing if there is an excessive flood of loans.
What are Some of the Common Loanwords?
Language is, at its core, a means of communication. It is an all-encompassing human phenomenon. It is a way to convey our thoughts, feelings, emotions, and messages. A language must be capable of expressing these phenomena.
However, a language may not always have all of the words necessary to represent all of one’s experiences. It will have to borrow words and phrases from various languages.
Here are the most common ‘loan words’:
African
The majority of African-derived words in English are nouns that describe creatures, plants, or cultural traditions that originated in Africa, mostly sub-Saharan African.
apartheid banana banjo basenji
bongo buckra chimpanzee cola
dengue fandango goober jambalaya
jive jukebox jumbo mamba
mambo samba voodoo zebra
Arabic
The following terms were learned either directly from Arabic or indirectly through the translation of Arabic into other languages and subsequently into English.
alcohol algebra average caravan
gazelle giraffe harem kebab
lemon magazine mattress mosque
oud safari shawarma sofa
sugar sultan tariff zenith
Australian
Some of the words of Australian Aboriginal origin, such as kangaroo and boomerang, are commonly used in Australian English. Many of these words have been leased into languages other than English, while others are unique to Australian English.
aborigine ballarat billabong bombora
boomerang bunyip dingo gymea
humpy kangaroo koala mallee
nugget swagman waddy walkabout
wallaby willy willy wombat wonga
Chinese
The English language, as well as many other European languages, has adopted certain Chinese words. The majority of them were loanwords from Chinese, a phrase that refers to members of the Sino-Tibetan language family who speak Chinese.
china chopsticks chow mein cumquat
dim sum feng shui ketchup kowtow
kung fu lychee soy tai chi
tea tofu typhoon wok
Dutch
Both English and Dutch are West Germanic languages. However, in most cases, English spellings of Dutch loanwords suppress vowel combinations from the source term that do not exist in English and substitute them with existing vowel combinations.
bamboo blister boulevard brandy
cashier commodore dapper decoy
elope filibuster geek iceberg
knapsack mannequin onslaught pickle
pump school sketch stove
French
Many French words have found their place in the English language, just as many Latin ones have.
ballet casserole chancery cinema
croissant embassy entrepreneur faux pas
genre helicopter limousine parachute
pastry porridge renaissance rendezvous
silhouette stew television thermometer
Greek
Because the living Greek and English languages did not come into direct touch until modern times, borrowings had to be indirect, coming via Latin (through texts or French and other vernaculars) or Ancient Greek texts, rather than the living spoken language.
alchemy bacterium bishop chair
elixir garbology gas helicobacter
hydrant hydrodynamics kerosene metalinguistic
photography priest symbiont taxonomy
telegram telescope television zoology
German
Many of these terms may be traced back to a Germanic source (typically Frankish), making them cognate with a large number of native English words from Old English, resulting in etymological twins. Many of these are Franco-German words or words with Germanic roots in French.
attaché blitz bourgeoise delicatessen
fest flak gesundheit kindergarten
lager noodle poodle pretzel
rucksack sauerkraut schadenfreude schnitzel
strudel waltz zeitgeist zeppelin
Hebrew
It is not unexpected that Hebrew had an influence on English. Because European languages lacked a decent equivalent, or the translators weren’t sure what the word meant, many early translators took words directly from Hebrew.
abacus amen cherub cider
corban glitch golem jacket
jubilee macabre pascal pharaoh
pharisee rabbi sabbatical schmoose
schwa shalom shivah torah
Hindi/Sanskrit
Many old Greco-Roman words that are now part of modern English can be traced back to Sanskrit.
candy cashmere cough crimson
daughter dental grass ignite
jungle karma lilac mantra
neem nirvana pepper rice
shampoo shawl tank yoga
Italian
Many words from the Italian language and its Latin-derived relatives have made their way into English, particularly those related to art, music, and cuisine.
balcony coda extravaganza fresco
maestro motto novel piano
presto quarantine regatta solo
soprano stanza studio tempo
trio umbrella violin zucchini
Japanese
Japanese words have made their way into a wide range of languages. Some of the words are simply transliterations of Japanese language words for cultural concepts, but others are words of Chinese origin that were first introduced to English through Japan.
anime bento bonsai geisha
kamikaze karaoke karate katsu
mochi ninja nori origami
samurai shoyu sudoku sumo
sushi tsunami tycoon wasabi
Latin
Even though no one speaks Latin anymore, many aspects of the language can still be found in word components. Many languages have taken vocabulary from Latin, particularly in the areas of arithmetic, science, and medicine.
affidavit agenda alias alibi
alma mater alter ego alumni bonus
etcetera exit fact maximum
post mortem post-partum propaganda spectrum
Portuguese
The majority of loanwords and derivations stem from the Age of Discovery, when the Portuguese spoken at sea was widely regarded as the most widely understood vernacular (lingua franca) of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, according to several studies.
albino buffalo caramel cashew
caste cobra creole embarrass
flamingo indigo Labrador lingo
marmalade massage molasses mulatto
palaver port potato tapioca
Spanish
The impact of Spanish, being one of the major Romance or Latin languages, can be heard all over the world, particularly in English. Because of the Spanish colonization of a substantial section of the Americas from 1492 until 1832, the influence of Spanish on the English language is particularly noticeable in American English.
alligator avocado barrio breeze
burrito cafeteria canyon cargo
cigar fiesta hacienda hurricane
macho mosquito oregano patio
ranch stampede tequila tornado
Where Can We Usually Find Loanwords?
Everyday words are popular loanwords. You may not even be aware that some of them are from a different language.
The majority of well-known loanwords are the outcome of cross-cultural encounters. There are a plethora of methods to highlight English’s global ingredients, but it would take as many years to do so properly as it did for English to develop into the rich stew it is now.
Loanwords in Academics
Loanwords have been discussed and explained by academics like Lyle Campbell, together with Ugandan-born British linguist Francis Katamba and even author and linguistic researcher Kerry Maxwell. Continue reading to see what they had to say about it.
Lyle Campbell
“One reason terms from another language are adopted is for prestige, as the foreign phrase is held in high regard for whatever reason. ‘Luxury’ loans are used to describe loans used to gain prestige. For example, English could have done just fine with only native terms for ‘pig flesh/pig meat’ and ‘cow flesh/cow meat,’ but pork (from French porc) and beef (from French boeuf), as well as many other terms of ‘cuisine,’ were borrowed from French; ‘cuisine’ itself is from French cuisine ‘kitchen’, because French had a higher social status and was considered more prestigious than English during the Norman French dominance of England (1066-13).”
Francis Katamba
“Bilingual speakers may be expressing something about themselves and how they want to relate to their interlocutor by using a specific language. For example, if a patient initiates a Yiddish conversation with a doctor in the doctor’s office, it could be a show of solidarity, implying that you and I belong to the same sub-group. Instead of selecting between languages, these two people would prefer code-switching. They may produce sentences that are partially written in English and partially written in Yiddish. If foreign terms are often employed in code-switching, they may gradually flow from one language to another, becoming fully integrated and no longer being considered foreign. That is most likely how Yiddish phrases like chutzpah (brazen impudence), schlemiel (a clumsy, bungling person who is constantly a victim), schmaltz (cloying, bland sentimentality), and goyim (gentile) came to be. The fact that these Yiddish words have no graceful English equivalent was undoubtedly a factor in their acceptance.”
Loanwords in Pop Culture
As the following comment from the late British actor Geoffrey Hughes, who also played Paul McCartney in the film “Yellow Submarine,” demonstrates, loanwords function in a range of languages.
Geoffrey Hughes
“Scholars use a three-part distinction drawn from German to classify loanwords according to their degree of assimilation in the new host language. The sound, spelling, and meaning of a Gastwort (‘guest word’) are all preserved. Examples are ‘passe’ – a French word, ‘diva’ – an Italian word, and ‘leitmotiv’ – a German word. A Fremdwort (‘foreign term’), like the French ‘garage’ and ‘hotel’, has experienced partial assimilation. ‘Hotel,’ which was initially pronounced with a silent ‘h’, has been spoken like an English word for some time, with the ‘h’ sounded; ‘garage,’ which has evolved a secondary, Anglicized pronunciation (‘garrij’) and can be employed as a verb. Finally, a Lehnwort (‘loan word’) has assimilated into the new language and has no distinguishing features. As a result, the loan word is an example of itself.”
Kerry Maxwell
“Fauxcellarm, a clever blend of the French loan term faux, meaning ‘false’, ‘cell’, from ‘cellphone’, and ‘alarm’, which when pronounced out loud sounds similar to ‘false alarm’, is a tongue-in-cheek alternative to ringxiety.”
Why Should We Be Familiar With ‘Loanwords’?
You are now aware that English has many words that have been borrowed from other languages.
In reality, the majority of English terms are from other languages. Many of the words in the English language have cognates in different languages. Knowing what many of these common word components signify will help you expand your English vocabulary.
As such, it is a must that you familiarize yourself with these terms and where they are from as this will surely come in handy not just in academic settings but also in social settings.
Additional FAQs — Loanwords
How Many Loanwords are There in the English Language?
Out of the (approximately) 171 476 words in the English language, 80% are borrowed or loaned from other languages. Studies show that these loanwords are from 350 different languages, most of which are from Latin and French.
How do Loanwords Happen?
Borrowing of words usually occurs when a new object or institution is created for which the borrowing language lacks a word.
In some instances, the word’s spelling is altered to fit in a country’s standard spelling. Other times, the borrowed words stay as they are, with no modifications and alterations.
: a word taken from another language and at least partly naturalized
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web
Most English loanwords borrow from languages that, like English, use the Latin alphabet.
—
Sarah Bunin Benor, The Conversation, 21 May 2020
With the mega-success of Starbucks and its various coffee competitors, BARISTA has transformed from a somewhat niche Italian loanword to a term most everyone not only knows but uses regularly.
—Ryan P. Smith, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Dec. 2019
And so the language planners, led by linguist Ari Páll Kristinsson, are working furiously to match every English word or concept with an Icelandic one—giving young Icelanders no excuse for depending on loanwords learned online.
—Caitlin Hu, Quartz, 2 June 2019
Each provided loanwords, words adopted from a donor language without translation.
—Courtney Linder, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Apr. 2018
Local journalists describe the scenes here as the local telenovela, a Spanish loanword meaning soap opera.
—Joseph Hincks / Manila, Time, 27 Oct. 2017
Sadly, these words failed to stick, and nowadays one is forced to answer wrong numbers on a loanword: tilifun.
—Peter Hessler, The New Yorker, 7 Apr. 2017
It’s time for chimaek, a tradition that combines the Korean term for beer, maekju, with the English loanword for chicken.
—Wesley Yang, Bon Appetit, 9 May 2017
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘loanword.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1869, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of loanword was
in 1869
Dictionary Entries Near loanword
Cite this Entry
“Loanword.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/loanword. Accessed 14 Apr. 2023.
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
What are foreign loanwords and loan translations?
English takes many of its words from different languages around the world. These words are broadly known as borrowings, and they are subdivided into two categories: loanwords and loan translations.
A loanword is a term taken from another language and used without translation; it has a specific meaning that (typically) does not otherwise exist in a single English word. Sometimes the word’s spelling or pronunciation (or both) is slightly altered to accommodate English orthography, but, in most cases, it is preserved in its original language.
A loan translation (also known as a calque), on the other hand, is a word or phrase taken from another language but translated (either in part or in whole) to corresponding English words while still retaining the original meaning.
Foreign Loanwords
English is influenced by a variety of different languages, and, for that reason, it has a huge number of loanwords, many of which are so entrenched in the language that they are rarely even considered to be of foreign origin. In some cases, the meaning of the word when used in English is slightly different or more specific than in the language from which it is taken, but this is not always the case.
A huge amount of words now considered part of the standard English lexicon are technically loanwords from Latin, Greek, or French. Many of these borrowings occurred during the formative years of modern English, and have since been assimilated through changes in spelling and pronunciation into the words we use every day. There are far too many of these loanwords to go over individually. Instead, let’s look at some examples that best demonstrate how loanwords are borrowed without (or with very little) change in their original spelling, pronunciation, or meaning:
|
Loanword |
Language of origin |
Notes on spelling, pronunciation, and meaning |
|---|---|---|
|
aficionado |
Spanish |
Literally “fond of,” in English it refers to an ardent fan, supporter, or devotee of some subject or activity. |
|
amateur |
French |
In French, the term refers to someone who is a lover of some activity. In English, it is used to describe someone who engages in a study, sport, or other activity as a pastime rather than in a professional capacity. |
|
angst |
German |
In German, Angst generally means “fear or anxiety”; in English, it is used to describe an acute feeling of nonspecific anxiety, anguish, or apprehension, usually without a discernible cause. |
|
bacteria |
Latin |
Plural of the Latin bacterium, meaning “a small stick,” used to describe the appearance of bacteria when first identified in the early 19th century. |
|
ballet |
French |
From the French ballette, literally “small dance,” referring to a theatrical, classical dance characterized by precise conventional steps and graceful movements. |
|
café |
French |
In English, café (also spelled cafe, without the accent mark) only refers to a small restaurant in which one can buy food and drinks, usually coffee. In French, café (itself a loanword from Italian caffé) primarily refers to coffee itself, rather than an establishment that serves it. |
|
chow mein |
Chinese |
Adapted from Chinese ch’ao mein, meaning “fried noodles.” In English, it typically refers to a dish consisting of chopped vegetables and meat that is served with these noodles. |
|
cookie |
Dutch |
Adapted from the Dutch koekje, literally meaning “small cake,” to refer to small, dry, usually crisp cakes made from sweetened dough. |
|
delicatessen |
German |
Adapted from German Delikatessen, literally meaning “fancy food; a delicacy.” In English, it is used to refer to small shops or eateries, known especially for selling chilled, cooked meats. It is often shortened to deli, which is also used as an adjective to describe such meats. |
|
et cetera |
Latin |
Literally meaning “and (et) the rest (cetera),” it is used more figuratively in English to mean “and other unspecified things of the same type of class” or “and so forth.” |
|
faux pas |
French |
Literally “false step,” used in English to mean “a breach in decorum, etiquette, or good manners.” |
|
haiku |
Japanese |
A type of poem that traditionally juxtaposes two disparate ideas or images in 17 on (Japanese sound units), separated in three phases of 5, 7, and 5. In English, on was translated to “syllables,” so haikus in English are typically written in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively. |
|
jungle |
Hindi |
An anglicization of the Hindi spelling jangal, meaning “a desert, wasteland, forest, or uncultivated area.” In English, it refers to an area of dense tropical trees and vegetation. |
|
kindergarten |
German |
Literally “child garden,” referring in both languages to a program or class for young children serving as an introduction to elementary school. |
|
macho |
Spanish |
Literally meaning “male animal” in Spanish, in English it is used to describe a tough, masculine, or virile person, especially a man. |
|
modus operandi |
Latin |
Literally “mode of operating,” it refers in English to a person’s standard method or manner of working (used in law enforcement to describe a criminal’s or suspect’s behavior). |
|
noodle |
German |
Adapted from the term Nudel, with the same meaning (a thin, ribbon-like piece of pasta). |
|
oeuvre |
French |
Literally meaning “work,” it is more commonly used in English to refer to the sum of work produced by a creative person (a writer, painter, composer, etc.) over the course of a lifetime. |
|
orangutan |
Malay |
Literally meaning “man of the woods,” in English it refers to arboreal apes with shaggy, reddish-brown hair. |
|
pajamas |
Hindi |
The Hindi term pajama originated from Persian payjama, which perhaps influenced the standard British English spelling, pyjamas. |
|
patio |
Spanish |
In Spanish, this term refers to an inner courtyard of a house that has no roof. While it shares this meaning in English, it more often refers to a typically paved outdoor space adjoined to a house used for dining and recreation. |
|
piano |
Italian |
In both languages, piano primarily refers to the musical instrument with a manual keyboard that triggers hammers to strike metal wires that then produce the sound. It is short for the longer Italian word pianoforte. |
|
prima donna |
Italian |
Literally meaning “first lady,” referring to the leading female singer in an opera company. It is more commonly used in English to refer to a self-centered, temperamental, petulant person. |
|
quid pro quo |
Latin |
Literally, “something for something.” In English, it is used to mean “something done in exchange or compensation for something else.” |
|
smorgasbord |
Swedish |
Adapted from the Swedish term smörgåsbord, meaning “open-faced sandwich table.” It refers specifically to a buffet-style meal consisting of a variety of different dishes. By extension in English, it is used figuratively to describe a wide variety of different options or elements, as in, “The festival features a smorgasbord of musical talents.” |
|
sombrero |
Spanish |
In both languages, this term refers to a broad-brimmed hat with a high crown. |
|
tycoon |
Japanese |
Adapted from the Japanese term taikun, meaning “great lord, prince, or high commander,” a title used by foreigners when referring to the Japanese shogunate. In English, it was anglicized as tycoon, and it now means a wealthy, powerful, and influential businessperson or magnate. |
|
umami |
Japanese |
Literally “tasty things,” this term refers to the savory taste sensation occurring in broths and meats. |
|
vigilante |
Spanish |
Literally meaning “watchman,” it is used in English to refer to a person who pursues and punishes suspected criminals outside of the law. |
Loan Translations (Calques)
While loanwords are used with little or no change to the spelling (or phonetic spelling) of the original word, loan translations are instead an idiomatic word or phrase that is translated literally into English, but used with the same or similar meaning as the original.
There are far fewer loan translations in English than there are loanwords, but there are still too many to include in this section, so let’s just look at a few common examples:
|
Loan translation |
Language of origin |
Original word or phrase |
Notes on meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
|
angel hair |
Italian |
capelli d’angelo, literally “hair of an angel” |
Very thin, long pasta. In English, it is more commonly written as angel hair pasta. |
|
brainwashing |
Chinese |
xi nao, literally meaning “wash brain” |
“Calculated, forcible indoctrination meant to replace a person’s existing beliefs, convictions, or attitudes.” |
|
commonplace |
Latin |
locus communis |
Originally referring to a literary passage that is generally applicable, in modern English it simply refers to that which is ordinary, common, uninteresting, or unremarkable. |
|
devil’s advocate |
Latin |
advocatus diaboli |
This term originated in the Roman Catholic Church, referring to an official whose role was to deliberately argue against the canonization of potential saint, in order to expose any possible character flaws of the candidate or weaknesses of evidence in favor of canonization. In modern English, the term refers to anyone who argues against something either for the sake of argument alone, or to help clarify or determine the validity of the opposing cause (rather than due to personal opinions or convictions). |
|
flea market |
French |
marché aux puces, literally “market of the fleas” |
A type of informal bazaar consisting of vendors who rent space to sell or barter various goods or merchandise. The term is popularly thought to refer to a particular market in Paris known as the marché aux puces, so-called because most of the items being sold were of such age that they were likely to have gathered fleas over time. |
|
it goes without saying |
French |
cela/ça va sans dire |
This expression has the same meaning in English as it does in French—that is, “it is or should be generally understood or accepted as self-evident.” |
|
let the buyer beware |
Latin |
caveat emptor |
This axiom holds that the buyer is responsible for assessing the quality of goods or services before purchasing them. While this loan translation is a common cliché in English, the Latin term itself is also sometimes used as a loan phrase. |
|
lose face |
Chinese |
tiu lien |
The phrase means “humiliation” in Chinese, but in English it means “to do something resulting in the loss of status, reputation, or respect from others.” The related term save face comes from this meaning in English, rather than as another loan translation from Chinese. |
|
masterpiece |
Dutch |
meesterstuk |
Originally meaning “the work for which an artist or craftsman is granted the rank of master in a guild or academy,” it is used in modern English to refer to any creation that is considered a person’s greatest work or is of outstanding quality. |
|
moment of truth |
Spanish |
el momento de verdad |
The original Spanish phrase was used in bullfighting to describe the moment at which the matador makes the final, fatal sword thrust into the bull. In English, it more generally refers to a critically decisive or important moment that will test a person’s character or resolve, or determine the outcome of something. |
|
New Wave |
French |
Nouvelle Vague |
Originally a movement of French cinema in the 1960s, the phrase became popularized as a name for a certain style of music in the late 1970s and early ’80s, similar to punk rock but characterized by more melodic music and, often, the use of synthesizers. |
|
rainforest |
German |
Regenwald |
A dense tropical forest in an area of high annual rainfall. |
|
rest in peace |
Latin |
requiescat in pace, literally “may he or she begin to rest in peace” |
Said of someone who has passed away, and commonly written on tombstones. |
|
wisdom tooth |
Latin |
dens sapientiae |
One of the four rearmost molar teeth, so named due to their appearance at the onset of adulthood, usually between age 17–25. |
|
world-view |
German |
Weltanschauung, literally “world perception” |
An overall conception of life, the world, and humanity’s place therein. |
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1
loan-word
loan-word noun заимствованное слово
Англо-русский словарь Мюллера > loan-word
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2
loan word
лингв. заимствованное слово
English-Russian base dictionary > loan word
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3
loan word
Большой англо-русский и русско-английский словарь > loan word
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4
loan-word
Большой англо-русский и русско-английский словарь > loan-word
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5
loan word
НБАРС > loan word
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loan word
Универсальный англо-русский словарь > loan word
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7
loan-word
Универсальный англо-русский словарь > loan-word
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8
loan-word
[`ləʊnwɜːd]
заимствованное слово
Англо-русский большой универсальный переводческий словарь > loan-word
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9
loan-word
English-Russian electronics dictionary > loan-word
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loan-word
The New English-Russian Dictionary of Radio-electronics > loan-word
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loan word
Новый англо-русский словарь > loan word
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12
loan word
Англо-русский словарь по полиграфии и издательскому делу > loan word
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13
loan-word
заи́мствование с, заи́мствованное сло́во
The Americanisms. English-Russian dictionary. > loan-word
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14
cultural (loan) word
Лингвистика:культурное заимствование
Универсальный англо-русский словарь > cultural (loan) word
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15
translation loan-word
Универсальный англо-русский словарь > translation loan-word
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(a) loan word
English-Russian combinatory dictionary > (a) loan word
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loan
[ləʊn]
n
заём, ссуда, займ
The book is on loan at the moment. — Книга выдана по внешнему абонементу. /Книга находится на руках.
They’ve agreed to give a loan providing we can get someone to guarantee it. — Они согласились дать нам ссуду, если мы найдем кого-либо, кто за нас поручится
— big loan
— cheap loans
— bank loan
— short loan
— interlibrary loan
— non-repayable loan
— war loans
— mortgage loan
— ten year loan
— forced loans
— unpaid loan
— loan company
— State loan system
— loan certificate
— loan shark
— loan word
— loan translation
— loan on easy terms
— loan against a pledge
— loan in foreign currency
— loan of money
— loan on security
— paintings on loan
— arrange for a loan with the bank
— be on loan
— get a loan from a bank
— get a loan for a building
— give smb a loan
— issue a loan
— look to smb for a loan
— negotiate a loan
— oblige smb with a loan
— help smb with a loan
— pay percentage on a loan
— place a loan
— raise a loan on an estate
— pay off a loan
— renew the loan of the same terms
— loan is covered many times overEnglish-Russian combinatory dictionary > loan
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18
loan
1. n заём; ссуда; кредит
2. n лингв. заимствование; заимствованное слово
3. n работник, временно переведённый в другую организацию
4. n книговыдача
5. v давать взаймы, ссужать
6. v разг. брать взаймы занимать
7. v давать деньги под проценты
Синонимический ряд:
1. advance (noun) advance; credit; debt; investment; lending; mortgage
2. lend (verb) accommodate; advance; allow; credit; debit; lend
Антонимический ряд:
English-Russian base dictionary > loan
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19
word
1. слово
2. легенда
guide word — колонтитул, направляющее слово
head word — начальное слово, набранное титульным шрифтом
3. ключевое слово
in a word — одним словом, короче говоря
4. колонтитул, направляющее слово
long word — длинное слово; двойное слово
English-Russian big polytechnic dictionary > word
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20
word
1) слово
2) (машинное) слово (единица данных, обрабатываемая аппаратными средствами вычислительной техники)
Англо-русский словарь по полиграфии и издательскому делу > word
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См. также в других словарях:
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loan word — noun A word taken into one s own language from another language, generally with slight adaptation • • • Main Entry: ↑loan * * * loan word, a word borrowed from another language, especially a foreign word that has become naturalized. Examples:… … Useful english dictionary
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loan word — n. word which is taken from another language … English contemporary dictionary
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loan word — /ˈloʊn wɜd/ (say lohn werd) noun a word of one language adopted into another at any period in history, for example wine (into Old English from Latin), blitz (into Modern English from German). Also, loanword. {translation of German Lehnwort} …
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loan-word — См. parola importata … Пятиязычный словарь лингвистических терминов
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Loan word — Заимствованное слово … Краткий толковый словарь по полиграфии
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loan — (n.) mid 13c., from O.N. lan, related to lja to lend, from P.Gmc. *laikhwniz (Cf. O.Fris. len thing lent, M.Du. lene, Du. leen loan, fief, O.H.G. lehan, Ger. Lehn fief, feudal tenure ), originally to let have, to leave (to someone), from PIE *lei … Etymology dictionary
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loan´er — loan1 «lohn», noun, verb. –n. 1. the act of lending: »She asked for the loan of his pen. 2. money lent: »He asked his brother for a small loan. 3. anything that is lent: »The bicycle was only a loan from a friend and had to be returned that… … Useful english dictionary
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loan´a|ble — loan1 «lohn», noun, verb. –n. 1. the act of lending: »She asked for the loan of his pen. 2. money lent: »He asked his brother for a small loan. 3. anything that is lent: »The bicycle was only a loan from a friend and had to be returned that… … Useful english dictionary
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word — {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun 1 unit of language ADJECTIVE ▪ two letter, three letter, etc. ▪ monosyllabic, polysyllabic ▪ two syllable, three syllable … Collocations dictionary
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word — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) Written communication Nouns 1. word, term, expression, locution, linguistic unit or form, word form, lexeme; homonym, synonym, antonym, heteronym, homophone; syllable, monosyllable, polysyllable; stem,… … English dictionary for students
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Loan words in Sri Lankan Tamil — came about mostly due contact between colonial powers and the native population. Linguists study a language s lexicon for a number of reasons. Languages such as Tamil with centuries of literature and multi cultural contact offer the chance to… … Wikipedia