Tag Archives: Borrowings

May 30, 2026 · 10:00 AM

Etymology Undusted: German Borrowings

As English and German are offshoots of the same branch of the language tree, we share many words in common, but because I speak both English and German (High German, as well as the Zürich dialect of Swiss German), it’s difficult for me to know how many German borrowings are widely used in the English-speaking regions of the world. There are more such borrowings, for instance, in American English (because of the German-speaking immigrants that brought their mother-tongue along with them) than in British English, which was more heavily influenced by French (up until the French Revolution, when Francomania fell out of fashion in Britain for fear that the spark of revolution would ignite revolt in their own peasant classes. But that’s another story!).

Perhaps another complication for me personally in deciphering what German words are used elsewhere is that I grew up in a region with Amish communities who spoke a language similar to German (known as Pennsylvania Dutch or Pennsylvania German – a dialect of German imported around 300 years ago) – so we used words like Gesundheit (when someone sneezed) rather than the more common “bless you”.

With all of that in mind, here are a few words that English has nicked directly from German:

Gesundheit, kindergarten, angst, dachshund, hamster, pretzel, sauerkraut, delicatessen, hamburger, gummy bear, zeitgeist, kitsch, fife, uber (über), neanderthal, doppelgänger, ersatz, zeppelin, rucksack, knapsack, kaput, quartz, schadenfreude, bagel, blitz, fest, glitch, muesli, noodle, schnapps, strudel, poltergeist, waltz, carabiner, cobalt, echt, edelweiss, eiderdown, einkorn, gestalt, verboten, wanderlust, wunderkind, finger, glass, übermensch, leitmotif, bratwurst, kaffeeklatsch, diesel, and the list goes on and on!

Some words in English have been borrowed, especially in America, from what is known as Yinglish – New York Yiddish mixed with English (mainly from the Ashkenazi Jewish community). A few examples are: Mensch, klutz, schmuck, dreck, spiel, schmooze, shlep, kosher, mazel tov, putz, tush/tuchus and yenta.

Are any of these words new to you? Which ones do you use? Which ones are used in your region?

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Filed under Articles, Etymology, History, History Undusted, Liguistics, Linguistics

Tagged as American English, Amish, Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants, Borrowings, British English, English Etymology, French Revolution, German, Immigrants, Immigration, Linguistics, Pennsylvania Dutch, Pennsylvania German, Regional Vocabulary, Yiddish, Yinglish

May 16, 2026 · 10:00 AM

Etymology Undusted: Latin Borrowings

Believe it or not, the language second only to French in English borrowings is Latin. In all, it is estimated that up to 56% of English borrowings come from French and Latin (and since many French words come from Latin, it could be argued that Latin has had the greatest impact on the English language).

The Germanic tribes that fought the Roman Empire eventually moved west into what we know today as the British Isles; before they came, they’d already packed their linguistic bags with Latin terms, such as candle (candelabrum), cheese (caseum), camp (castra – from which we also derive castle), mile (mille passus, from which we also get [geographical] pass), mint (menta – for coins), pound (libra – for a weight unit, and from which the British pound sign £ is derived), and street (via strata), to name a few (many more were added during the period of Roman Britain, 55 BC – AD 410). The language of these ancient settlers was the ancestor of what would become English, but these tribes wrote in runes, and the language they spoke would be unintelligible to us today, as it had complex genders/noun cases and distinct vowel shifts.

Ancient Latin often borrowed words from Greek and then passed them on through the Romance languages to English, often through French. Some examples from Greek via Latin are school, anatomy, philosophy, music, machine, olive, bacteria, lamp, topic, idea, and place.

When Christian missionaries arrived in Britain in the 6^th and 7^th centuries, they brought Latin terms with them to describe new concepts. At that time, Latin was the Lingua Franca of medieval Europe. Sometimes, both the Old English and the Latin terms survived, such as OE Gospel (gödspell) and Latin evangelium (which comes from the Greek for “good news”; this is still the word used in German today). During that period, Latin terms tended to be used only in a religious context, with Old English being used in everyday life.

Latin moved beyond cathedral walls via science and technology; the era of scientific discovery required new words to describe new areas of knowledge and understanding. Words like carnivorous, apparatus, data, experiment, incubate, organic, structure, vertebra, and component entered the vocabulary during that time.

Other words borrowed from Latin include:

Absent, alter, amble, acceptable, agriculture, amiable, animal, appear, announce, aviary, barbarian, beatitude, benefit, campus, candidate, circumspect, civic, conspicuous, council, custody, deity, dictionary, digital, dragon, edible, extra, figure, focus, genus, habitat, imperial, invent, labour, legacy, library, marine, mediocre, medium, perfect, port, respect, ridicule, scholar, science, serpent, serve, superb, and so many more… ad infinitum!

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Tagged as AI-Gen Image, Borrowed Words, Borrowings, Germanic, greek, Latin, Linguistics, Roman Britain, Roman Empire

April 29, 2026 · 11:40 AM

Etymology Undusted: French Borrowings

Languages are constantly moving, changing their minds on the meanings of words, and taking on new words to fit their needs in a fast-paced world. Today, when we say nice, we mean agreeable, pleasant, or kind; but when it first entered English in the late 13^th century, it meant foolish, frivolous, ignorant or senseless. By Jane Austen’s time, the word was disdained as overused, diffused to the point of meaning nothing… a nice day, a nice walk, a nice person. And depending on the tone, it can be sarcastic. A versatile, everyday word that we stole – uh, borrowed – from Old French.

English has borrowed quite a bit from French; in fact, some linguists estimate that up to 45% of English words can trace their origins back to French. Most of the influx into English came after William the Conqueror’s 1066 victory, when the French-speaking ruling class (of what we know today as England) moved in. To communicate with their new tyrants – uh, rulers – the conquered Anglo-Saxons needed to do some rapid assimilation, and ended up expanding their vocabulary by leaps and bounds. In the end, it’s up for debate as to who actually conquered whom, as English is spoken the world over by more than a billion people as a first or second language.

We can be gracious winners, and give the French tongue credit where crédit is due (it’s French, after all). Aside from words stol— borrowed centuries ago and adapted to fit our tongue, we have also assimilated purely French words or phrases that we use regularly:

Rendezvous, RSVP (répondez s’il vous plaît), arrangez-vous, mis en place, café, résumé, faux pas, déjà vu, à la carte, cliché, cuisine, sauté, avant-garde, chic, je ne sais quoi, cul-de-sac, en route, savoir-faire, carte blanche, boutique, lingerie, silhouette, matinée, décor, fiancé, and augment. To scrape the tip of the iceberg.

With up to 40-45% of English being French in origin, chances are that many more of the words I’ve just used to communicate this piece were originally French. Can you spot them? Please comment below!