TML will be on vacation from July 13-Aug. 4. If anyone would like to fill in, please e-mail me and we will arrange it. Thank you.
Welcome to The Mad Logophile. Here, we explore words; their origins, evolution, usage. Words are alive; they are born, they change and, sometimes, they die. They are our principal tool for communicating with one another. There are millions of words yet only an estimated 171,476 words are in common current use. As a logophile, I enjoy discovering new words, using them and learning about their origins.
This week TML looks at foreign words and phrases that we use every day. I decided to talk mostly about words that we may not even realize are foreign in origin. Words that have become so ensconced in our vernacular that we completely forget that they come from another language. I also chose some that struck me as particularly interesting. Follow me below the fold for a linguistic trip around the world.....
The first thing we're going to do is take a little trip back with Father Tiresias (and if anyone gets THAT obscure reference, I'll give you a gold star!). Latin is not entirely dead. Lots of Latin words live on in our language. Not as root words, oh no... I'm talking about words that come directly from the Latin. There are thousands but I winnowed it down to a manageable list:
Abacus is not Chinese!
Album was taken into English with the phrase album amicorum, i.e. an autograph book.
Anathema is from Ecclesiastical Latin for an accursed thing.
Antenna is an alteration of antemna (sailyard), used in plural as a translation of Aristotle's keraioi; "horns" of insects.
Aura's archaic sense is "a gentle breeze." Not until the mid-16th century did we use it in it's most common sense.
Campus means today exactly what it meant to the Ancient Romans.
Census was a way to register the citizens of Rome and their property for tax purposes. Despite what some wingnuts think, we don't do them for that reason anymore.
Condominium was a term for the joint control of a State's affairs. The prefix con- means "with others" so the word was adopted for the building.
Daemon is the inner spirit of a person. The use of demon to denote an evil spirit began in the Middle Ages. But scholars found the the original spelling to be useful in differentiating between the classical sense and the extant sense so this spelling has survived.
Data is the plural of datum and both have the same meaning as they did when it was coined.
Ego was used to refer to the Self; the "I". Not until Freud did it take on deeper meaning.
Exit first referred to the actor's leaving the stage or, figuratively, to a person's death. An egress was a way out of a building.
Focus was first used in its modern sense by Johannes Kepler in his Astronomia pars optica but it is thought that this sense was current in technical Latin. Focus was the word for the hearth, the center of the home.
Genesis, apart from being the name of the greatest band ever, was a term for one's natal horoscope. The first book of the Septuagent was given this name which was adopted by the Vulgate and then vernacular Bibles.
Genius referred to the attendant spirit that everyone was given at birth; like a guardian angel that also served as a teacher.
Gymnasium comes from a word meaning "to exercise naked" and that's just how the Romans did it.
Icon is a likeness, at first referring to a picture of a plant or animal in a natural history text.
Index came to us from technical Latin. It is still used most often in math and other technical sciences.
Insomnia (in- negative + somnius "sleep") plagued the Romans just like it does us.
Larva, up until the mid-18th century, referred to a ghost or disembodied spirit.
Libido has always been a term for drive or energy associated with sex. Those randy Romans....!
Medium literally means "middle." The definition hasn't changed, only been added to.
Memento is the imperative of meminisse, "to remember" and originally referred to specific prayers of commemoration. The sense widened to take in the warning of mortality, especially an object that does this, and eventually to any object that we use to stir memories.
Nebula was a word for mist or a vapor. Astronomers adopted it to describe clouds in the stars in the early 18th century.
Nova is the feminine singular of novus, "new" and described a new star or nebulae. It is now more specific.
Onus is a load or a burden. Always has been, always will be.
Podium referred to an elevated platform or balcony in Ancient Rome. Not until the mid-20th century did it come to mean the dais at the front of a hall.
Quota has pretty much maintained its meaning down through the centuries.
Regalia originally meant a royal residence and/or royal rights and broadened to take in anything having to do with royalty, especially objects.
Sanitarium has always been a place where sick people go to convalesce.
Sepia was the name for a cuttlefish from which a brown pigment was obtained. It went on to describe the color itself.
Spectrum went from describing an apparition, to describing the light that shone through a prism to being a word for a wide range of something.
Stimulus referred to the body at one time; as anything which provoked, increased or quickened bodily activity. The meaning expanded to take in an activity.
Synthesis spreads a wide umbrella from philosophy to botany. And to think it used to be a word for festive robes.
Tenet literally means "he holds" and has ever been a word for one's deeply held beliefs or opinions.
Thesis comes from a word meaning "to put into place" and refers to a basis of something; an idea, a sentence, an essay, etc.
Trivia described the place where three roads met (tre- "three" + via "way"). At these spots, people would meet to share news and gossip i.e. trivia. It was also a place that was sacred to the goddess Hecate (Hecate trevia). So next time you play Trivial Pursuit, ask for Her help.
Utopia means, literally, "no place" and was used by Sir Thomas Moore to name his imaginary perfect place.
Verbatim meant "word for word" to the Romans and still does today.
Veto literally means 'forbid" and was used by the Roman tribunes (who represented the people) to oppose measure passed by the Senate or actions of magistrates. Can we have that back?
Some phrases from Latin that we use often (or that I found interesting) are listed below with their translation:
Ad hoc; "to this"
Alma Mater; "bounteous Mother" (a title of the several goddesses including Cybele and Ceres)
Bona fides; "good faith" (erroneously treated as a plural)
Et cetera; "and the rest"
Habeus Corpus; "thou shalt have the body"
In memoriam; "to the memory of" (the in is part of the phrase)
In vitro; "in glass"
Locus desperatus; "hopeless place" refers to a manuscript reading that defies explanation
Per capita; "through or by the head"
Quo erat demonstrandum (QED); "what it was necessary to prove"
Reducto ad absurdum; "reduction to the absurd" (a popular logical method here on Daily Kos)
Tabula rasa; "scraped tablet" (a clean slate; also a great episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Una voce; "one voice"
Vice versa; "the position being reversed"
Still in the "past", we look at some Ancient Greek words that have come down to us from the Golden Age...
Acme is the "highest point" and was written in Greek letters long after it was adopted into the English language.
Agape is used mostly in a religious context as a love for one's fellows and means "brotherly love" literally.
Analgesic = an- "not + algeein "to feel pain"
Colossus was a word applied first by Herodotus to describe the statues of Egypt, though the Colossus of Rhodes is thought to be the source.
Cosmos described the orderly universe.
Dilemma = di- "two" + lemma "assumption"
Eureka is the first person singular of the word meaning "to find." So by shouting "eureka!" Archimedes was grammatically correct.
Exodus = ex- "out + hodus "way"
Hubris was first used in academia as describing a "high-flown insolence." To the Greeks, that insolence was shown to the Gods themselves and always punished.
Ion is the present participle of the Greek word ienai, "to go."
Mega is the combining form of megas, the word for "great." The current use originated in the U.S.
Mythos and its Latin derivative mythus were the prevalent forms before the Anglicized myth was adopted.
Pita is a word for a pastry or pie. It has many forms in several languages but the Greek is the most commonly used.
Trauma literally means "wound" and has broadened to take in any kind of injury.
Now, let's come back to the future and delve into the romantic language of the French. Oh, if the Neo-Cons only realized how many of the words we use every day come from the French! In my Foreign Word Dictionary there are eleven pages, with four columns per page, of French words & phrases in the English language; more than any other foreign language. This is only a small sampling. I guess what they don't know.... ;-)
Amateur went from describing one who is fond of something to one who does something not-for-money.
Appliqué means literally, "to apply."
Bassinet was, for a long time, used only in botany to describe certain flowers.
Bijou, a word for a trinket or jewel, is a popular name for theaters.
Blond is a feminine form of the adjective blonde.
Bravo should only be used to refer to men, women should get a brava.
Brusque means "harsh" and is also a word for the butcher's broom plant.
Butte... I bet you thought it was a Spanish word, eh? So did I.
Cadet is a Gascon word for the youngest brother in a family.
Carousel once described a kind of tournament. The current use if chiefly North American.
Chef means "head."
Cinema is the shortened version of cinematheque, a library for films.
Clairvoyant literally means "clear seeing."
Cul-de-sac ("sack bottom") was adopted for any road which is closed at the end in the late 18th century.
Debris means "broken" and referred first to the rubble of a building.
Deja vu is literally "already seen" and was first a psychological term.
Deluxe is usually used as a premodifier or postpositively as in a deluxe room or catalyst de luxe.
Depot was first a word for a place to store things, went on to describe a military headquarters and then as a place where vehicles are kept or dispatched from.
Domino (besides being a great song) used to describe a hooded garment, not the game tiles until the late 18th century.
Douche comes from the word for a conduit or pipe and eventually became on of Kossacks' favorite adjectives.
Elite has its roots in "to elect" and its meaning of the best part has been cruelly twisted by Neo-cons.
Employee is the past participial adjective, employer, to employ. With two "e"s, it's actually only referring to females.
Entrepreneur used to describe only those who undertook organization of a musical performance.
Esprit de ľescalier translates as "wit of the staircase" and refers to that clever remark or rejoinder that you think of after the fact. It was coined by French philosopher Denis Diderot.
Finesse once described clarity or purity of metals, then refinement of manners.
Foyer comes from focus and refers to the hearth, the center of the home. Its current meaning came in the mid-19th century.
Gaffe has always been a word for a blunder or indiscreet act or remark.
Gourmet was once a word for the wine-merchant's assistant but, due to influence from gourmand, became a synonym of that word.
Impasse is from the French "not to pass."
Kremlin is from a Russian word for citadel, kreml, but we use the French spelling.
Legume means "to gather" because the fruits are often reaped by hand.
Levee is the feminine of levé, "to raise."
Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday") is the name for the day before the start of Lent. The name refers to the last day of feasting before 40 days of asceticism.
Massage is literally "to knead" and has always described the application of pressure on the body by the hands. Sidenote; the Hawai'ian term for massage is lomilomi and also is literally, "to knead."
Melee is a variant of mesler, "to meddle."
Mezzanine comes from an Italian word for "middle."
Migraine is the French word from the Greek ones, hemi "half" and kranion "skull" and refers to the intense pain feeling as though one's head is being split in half.
Mirage is from se mirer, "to reflect."
Morale used to be spelled moral but was changed to indicate the stress on the last syllable.
Mustache should be spelled moustache and means "upper lip."
Noblesse oblige is often taken to mean the laziness of the upper class but actually refers to the responsibility entailed with their position.
Palette refers to the actual board that artists use to hold pigments.
Parole ultimately comes from the same word as parable and refers to a prisoner's word to abide by the terms of a conditional release.
Parti pris ("side taken") describes a pronounced prejudice or bias on the side of a particular party.
Personnel is an adjective disguised as a noun.
Pique literally mean "pike" as in the weapon and refers to the sharpness of a cutting remark.
Pompom should be spelled pompon and referred originally to a hair adornment. That's right, the all-American cheerleader carries something that is French!
Rapport used to describe a report or talk but that sense was obliterated completely by the mid-17th century.
Regime is based on the Latin, regimen and can describe a lifestyle or a government.
Reprise is a past participle feminine of reprende "to take back again" and used to be the word for an annual payment on an estate.
Restaurant comes from a word meaning "restore" which refers to the replenishment provided by food.
Resumé actually means "resume" and refers to a summary report.
Sabotage comes from sabot, a kind of wooden shoe and refers to the noise made by said shoes. Its current meaning didn't come until the early 20th century.
Sequin was a word for Arabian coins which belly dancers would sew to their costumes.
Silhouette is the last name of the famous French author and politician who popularized the art form.
Solitaire is from a word meaning "solitary." Kind of a no-brainer, really. The card game came along in the mid-18th century.
Suede means "Sweden" and the term gants de suède ("gloves of Sweden") was misunderstood as referring to the material rather than the county of origin
Tarot is the French spelling of an Italian word for the cards, which may be Egyptian in origin.
Triage is from trier, "to sort out."
Visa literally means "things seen" and refers to the endorsement on a passport.
Voila ("see there") is an interjection meaning "there it is" or "there you are."
The Italians have given us a great many words (a lot of them have to do with music so I've made that its own diary). How many that we perhaps don't realize or remember are from Italia...
Ballerina is the feminine of ballerino, a dancing master.
Bazaar is the Italian spelling of the Turkish, bazar.
Casino means "little house" and was originally a public meeting room.
Ditto is a Tuscan variant of detto, "said."
Galleria is a recent adaptation of the word for a shopping arcade. The idea of this arcade became fashionable among urban architects during the 1960s.
Ghetto is an perhaps from the word getto ("foundry") where the first ghetto was established in Venice in 1516.
Gonzo comes from a word meaning "foolish" and was adopted as slang in the U.S. in the 20th century.
Graffiti is a variant spelling of graffito, a word used to describe the drawings and writings on the walls of Pompeii.
Incognito literally means "unknown."
Inferno originally referred to Hell, as in Dante's Divine Comedy, then broadened to describe any fiery place.
Macaroni comes from a word meaning "barley food."
Malaria ("bad air") comes from the fatal idea that illness was caused by an unwholesome condition of the atmosphere.
Mondo means "world" and slang use derives ultimately from the film Mondo Cane ("a dog's world").
Motto describes a short sentence or phrase attached to a heraldic design.
Paparazzi is a word for a free-lance photographer who pursues celebrities. The term originated in the film La Dolce Vita.
Piano is short for pianoforte which means "soft and loud" as the instrument could be played either way.
Presto literally means "quickly" and is also used in music.
Propaganda is from the phrase congregatio de propaganda fide, "congregation for propagating the faith" and was originally a committee of cardinals responsible for foreign missions.
Scenario was first a word for a story board for plays.
Terracotta literally means "baked earth."
Vendetta comes from a word for vengeance and has always described a blood feud.
The Spanish have given us, particularly we Americans, lots of great words. These are but a sampling...
Armada is from a word meaning "army."
Cafeteria is from café, "coffee" and described a coffee house originally.
Chaparral (also the name of my high school) and chaps come from the same word, chaparejos which is the name of a dwarf evergreen oak.
Chino means "toasted" and refers to the color of the cotton twill cloth.
Embargo from a word meaning "impede."
Flotilla is the diminutive of flota, "fleet."
Guerrilla is the diminutive of guerra, "war" and was introduced into France and England during the Peninsula War of 1808.
Junta wends a circuitous route from the Latin word meaning "to join." It was first a name for an administrative council.
Marijuana has always been a name for the hemp plant.
Marina has its roots in mer, "sea" and is the same word and spelling in Italian, too.
Oregano is not Italian (as I thought it was) but a Spanish word for wild marjoram.
Patio has always described the courtyard of a house.
Plaza is also the source of place.
Ramada is the word for a porch or arbor. The word was adopted by the hotel chain because it sounded inviting.
Ranch is from a word meaning "people who eat together" and used to describe a hut or group of huts.
Silo comes from a word meaning "pit" and has always referred to a storage place for grain.
Tango may have ultimately come from an African word describing a certain dance.
Vigilante stems from vigilare, "to keep awake" and is American in origin.
From German we got lots of words having to do with food. But I've found some others, too...
Angst is a term for anxiety.
Bivouac means "extra watch" and originally referred to a night watch by an entire army and only later came to describe a military encampment.
Delicatessen originally described cooked meats, cheese and unusual or foreign foods, and not the shop where they were sold until the mid-20th century.
Doppelganger is literally "double goer" and describes a spectral likeness of a person.
Fest is the German word for a festival that, chiefly in the U.S., is used as the second element of a combination as in gabfest or songfest.
Gestalt literally means "form or shape" and was originally used in psychology. It was coined by introduced by German philosopher Christian von Ehrenfels.
Kindergarten ("children's garden") was coined in 1840 by Freiderich Fröbel for a school for teaching young children according to his method.
Kitsch describes art of poor quality, often garish.
Lager comes from Lager-Bier, beer brewed for keeping as it is stored and allowed to mature before drinking.
Meerschaum translates as "sea foam," a reference to the frothiness of the magnesium silicate used to make the pipe bowls.
Poltergeist literally means "noisy ghost."
Pretzel comes from the High German brizzilla, a word for a bracelet.
Schadenfreude comes from the words schaden, "harm" and freude, "joy" and has become a popular word in America, especially with the advent of reality programming.
Shaman is the German spelling of a Russian word for a tribal priest.
Words from the Middle East (for this list, Arab, Persian and Turkish) sound exotic but many have entered the vernacular despite that or maybe because of it. I've included a couple of words that I feel we should all know and know the actual definition of...
Ankh means "life" and the symbol is also known as a crux ansata.
Attar is a Persian word meaning "essence" and is just that, usually of roses.
Burka is an Urdu word for the long enveloping garment worn by Muslim women, not just the veil.
Caftan is from Turkish qaftan and describes a long flowing tunic.
Falafel is an Arab word for a fried ball or patty made from spiced chickpeas and/or fava beans. A favorite of Bill-O.
Fatwa is a ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a Mslim religious expert. Because of the brouhaha over Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses in 1989, it is falsely believed to mean "a death sentence."
Hajj is Arabic for the Great Pilgrimage; the trip to Mecca that every able-bodied Muslim is required to make during their lifetime.
Harem is Turkish for "wives and concubines" and literally means "something forbidden or kept safe."
Hashish is an Arabic word for powdered hemp. It is also the root of the word "assassin."
Hookah is from the Arabic word for a small container.
Hummus is from a Turkish word that means "mashed chick peas" which is exactly what it is.
Jihad, is in Arabic word meaning "struggle" and refers to a personal battle. Scholars say that jihad requires Muslims to "struggle in the way of God" or "to struggle to improve one's self and/or society," not fight others.
Kebab is an Arabic word for skewered meat. Recently, it has been used in chemistry to refer to polymer structure.
Kismet is the Turkish word for fate.
Loofah is the name of a specific plant (luffa aegyptiaca) in Arabic. Another favorite of Bill-o's.
Macramé is a Turkish word meaning "towel, tablecloth, handkerchief."
Sahib comes from the Urdu word for master or lord. It was used by Indians to refer to Englishmen or other Europeans.
Salaam is the Arabic word for peace and is used chiefly as a greeting, often accompanied by a low bow with the palm held to the forehead.
Shah is the Persian word for king.
Sherbet comes from the Turkish word for drink and was originally a refreshing drink made from fruit juices.
Sitar is an Urdu/Persian word meaning "three strings."
Wadi is an Arabic word for a river-bed that is usually dry except in the rainy season.
Yogurt is the Turkish spelling. It was originally spelled yoghurt.
Since the end of WWII, we have become closer as a society to the Japanese. Besides their electronics, we've adopted these words (among others)...
Banzai is a toast meaning "ten thousand years of life to you."
Dojo literally means "pursuit place."
Futon has been around for centuries in Japan was introduced to English in the 1980s when they became a fashionable item of furniture.
Hara-kiri is often corrupted to harikari and means "belly cutting." It is not just suicide, but a ritual form of disembowelment.
Hibachi means "fire bowl" and was originally used in Japan as a form of heating.
Honcho is the Japanese word for the leader of a group.
Judo translates as "gentle way."
Kamikaze means "divine wind". Kami is the Japanese word for a Shinto god or deity.
Karaoke literally means "empty orchestra."
Karate is a form of unarmed combat. The word translates as "empty hand."
Kimono means simply "wearing thing," something that is worn.
Koi is the name of a specific kind of carp.
Kudzu is a parasitic vine, Pueraria lobata.
Manga is a word for Japanese comic books or graphic novels.
Ninja is a word for a spy. It became popular in the 1970s with the advent of martial arts films.
Ramen means "noodle."
Satsuma is not only a kind of orange, it's also a kind of porcelain.
Sensei translates to "previous birth" and refers to the teacher's wisdom, which may have come from all s/he has learned from previous lives as well as this one.
Shiatsu is literally "finger pressure" and is a form of massage/acupressure.
Shogun comes from the Chinese word for a general.
Sushi means "sour" and refers to the preparation of the rice with vinegar.
Tofu translates as "beans left to sour."
Tsunami means "harbor wave."
Tycoon is a word that means "great lord or prince" and was applied by foreigners to the shogun of Japan who held power from 1854 to 1868.
Wasabi is the plant Eutrema wasabi, a member of the horseradish family.
Zen came to Japan with Buddhism and its root is the Chinese word chán, "solitude."
Zori translates as "grass shoe" and is properly made of so grass.
And from the land of Gandhi, we get these words...
Ashram describes a hermitage or place of religious retreat.
Avatar means "descent" and refers to a god visiting the earth in a mortal form.
Ayurveda translates as "science of life" and is an ancient health system.
Chakra means "cycle" and originally referred to a disc-like weapon. It now refers to energy centers of the body.
Darshan comes from a word meaning "to see" and refers to the occasion of seeing a holy person or image of a deity.
Dharma is Sanskrit for "decree" and means "right behavior."
Guru is a Sanskrit word meaning "teacher."
Karma is from a word meaning "action or effect; fate" and has more specific meanings within the religions of India than the one we ascribe to it.
Kundalini literally translates as "snake" and refers to the energy which lies coiled at the base of the spine.
Mahatma means "great soul." We know it primarily as a title of Mohandas Gahndi.
Mandala means "circle" and is a symbolic circular image which represents the universe.
Mantra is literally "thought" and refers to a sacred text or passage from the Vedas or Upanishads.
Namaste is a greeting which translates loosely as "the Divine in me acknowledges and greets the Divine in you."
Nirvana means to extinguish and describes the state of having reached enlightenment.
Swami means "master, prince" and refers firstly to a Hindu image or temple.
Swastika (su "good" + asti "being") is the Sanskrit word for the symbol we discussed last week.
Veranda is the Hindi word from the Portuguese varanda, "railing."
Yoga literally means "union" and strives for the union of the Self with the Supreme Being.
The former "evil empire" gave us these words, to name a few..
Balalaika is of Tartar origin and describes a stringed instrument with a triangular body and 2-4 strings.
Glasnost translates as "the fact of being public" and is the term used by the former USSR for its more open policies.
Gulag is an acronym of Glavnoe upravenie ispravitelʼno-trudovykh lagerei, the Chief Adminstration for Corrective Labor Camps.
Intelligentsia, the Russian word for intelligence, describes the part of the nation (in Pre-Revolutionary Russia) having aspirations of intellectual activity.
Pogrom literally means "devastation."
Samovar comes from samo "self" + var "to boil" and is an urn with an internal heating device.
Sputnik translates literally as "traveling companion."
Steppe is a Russian version of a prairie.
Taiga is from a Mongolian word for the swampy coniferous forest of high Northern latitudes.
Troika comes from troe, meaning a "set of three."
Tsar is the Russian representation of Caesar.
Vodka is a diminutive of voda, "water."
Yurt is from yurta, through the French yourte or German jurte.
And, finally, a selection of words from other languages...
Amok (Portuguese) came from a Malay word for a fighting frenzy.
Berg (Afrikaans) was adapted from a Dutch word for a mountain.
Boomerang (Aust. Aborigine) is directly from the same word the Aborigines have always used.
Boondock (Tagalog) is a word for isolated or remote parts. It was adopted by American military personnel.
Chow-mein (Chinese) literally means "fried noodles."
Commando (Portuguese) was first a term for a party of Boer militia called out for military purposes, i.e. a militia.
Feng-shui (Chinese) translates as "wind water" and is a system of controlling spirit influences.
Ginseng (Chinese) is from rén "man" + shen, a kind of herb and describes a plant of the panax family.
Goulash (Hungarian) is from a word meaning "herdsman."
Gung-ho (Chinese) means "work together."
Juju (W. African) is probably from the French joujou, a plaything.
Kielbasa (Polish) is the word for a highly-spiced sausage.
Kowtow (Chinese) literally means "strike the head" and refers to the practice of touching the forehead to the ground as a sign of great respect.
Maven (Hebrew) means "understanding" and describes an expert or connoisseur.
Megillah (Hebrew) is a word meaning "scroll" and describes each of five books of the Hebrew scriptures (Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Ruth and Esther) which are read on certain days. It was adopted as slang for "the whole thing."
Menhir (Breton) literally means "long stone."
Pagoda (Portuguese) came to Portuguese from a Persian word meaning "holy building."
Paprika (Hungarian) is the word for powdered fruits of the sweet pepper Capsicum annuum.
Patchouli (Tamil) describes the shrub of the Pogostemon family which is native to the Indo-Malay area.
Piranha (Portuguese) translates as "fish tooth" and is an adaptation of the local word, piraya.
Sabbath (Hebrew), the word for the Holy Day of rest and worship was adopted by the Christians for their analogous day.
Safari (Swahili) means "journey, trip, tour."
Saga (Old Norse) is the Icelandic version of the Old English sagu, a narrative.
Sarong (Malay) translates as "sheath" and is one of many words for a simple wrap made of cloth or bark found all over the Pacific.
Shenzi (Swahili) is a word for an uncivilized person or a barbarian. Now that name makes sense, eh?
Taboo (Tongan) is also spelled tabu, is a word for things set aside as holy or untouchable. The concept is common over the Pacific islands, thought the spelling of the word may change.
Tiki (Maori) means "image" and is another word that is spelled differently yet means the same thing over all the Pacific islands.
Trek (Afrikaans) comes from the Dutch trekken, "to pull."
Tundra (Lappish) is the Finnish version of taiga.
Uhuru (Swahili) means "freedom" which is one reason Gene Roddenberry chose it for his African Officer on Star Trek.
Veld (Afrikaans) is from the Dutch word for field.
Wok (Chinese) means "bowl."
The Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words & Phrases that I referred to for this diary is 482 pages long. The index lists 51 different languages from which our current English vernacular borrowed. Many of them are specialized or only used in certain circumstances and the preface admits that several categories of words have been excluded so as to keep the book within reasonable bounds. It also focuses strongly on words introduced during the course of the twentieth century. Older works tended towards a preponderance of French and Latin but, as the preface continues "... the English language is open to new words on a worldwide basis." Many recent additions are what could be termed "life-style words" which deal with fashion, cuisine, ethnic music, etc. Also, with the global society of the Interwebs, we are learning more and more of the languages of our friends in other countries. God/dess bless the cultural stew pot of words!
Please share your favorite foreign words or phrases. Especially ones we might not know but should. Over to you...