The Colonial Exchange

Words that crossed with empires

Colonialism left scars — and words. These traveled on ships of conquest, becoming part of languages they never chose.

1947

Words

669

Languages

Themes

Language histories

Latina Latin (97)Español Spanish (69)العربية Arabic (59)Français French (58)Ēald Englisċ Old English (43)Bahasa Melayu Malay (42)Nāhuatl Nahuatl (36)Ἑλληνική Ancient Greek (34)

Latin97

abdicāre

To abdicate is to 'speak away' one's power —…

abominatio

Strangely, abominatio began with fear of a bad omen.

aborigines

Surprisingly, aborigines began as a Roman name.

aera

A Latin word for a fixed numerical starting point —…

alibi

The Latin word for 'elsewhere' became a courtroom…

alūmen

A bitter mineral salt that ancient dyers could not…

amicus curiae

Friend of the court — a legal status that lets a party…

amuletum

The Romans had a word for something carried to ward…

annulus

Surprisingly, annulus is a little ring with a long…

Apis

The Romans named the bee with a word whose origin no…

auctio

The Latin word for an auction is built on the verb 'to…

Aurōra

The Romans named the goddess of dawn Aurōra — related…

avis strūthiō

The Romans called the largest bird on Earth a…

caelestis

The Latin word for 'belonging to the sky' — from…

calculus

Before mathematics had symbols, Romans did arithmetic…

Campania

An open plain in northeastern France gave its name to…

Canariae Insulae

The canary bird is named after the Canary Islands—but…

cancellāre

Romans drew crossbars over text to void it — prison…

cancellārius

One of the most powerful titles in Western government…

canna

A Latin word for a hollow reed became, through Arabic…

capitalis

The word for accumulated wealth began as the Latin…

catenary

The curve a hanging chain makes between two points is…

centurio

The Roman centurion — the professional backbone of the…

cliens

A client was not a customer but a dependent — in Roman…

codex

The codex — the ancestor of every modern book — was…

comes stabuli

The highest-ranking police officer in the…

constitūtiō

A Latin word meaning simply 'to set up together'…

consul

Two men elected annually to run the Roman Republic,…

culīna

culina

The Latin word for kitchen has been cooking inside…

datum

The Latin word for 'something given' — a thing cast,…

Deciduous

deh-SID-yoo-us

The Latin word for falling away gave botany its most…

deity

Surprisingly, deity is the plain state of being a god.

denarius

The Roman silver coin worth ten asses was so…

diluvium

Latin named an overwhelming flood with a word built…

divinity

Surprisingly, divinity begins with what is divine, not…

domus

The Latin word for a house — the fundamental shelter…

ēdictum

Roman magistrates 'spoke out' their policies on the…

faith

Surprisingly, faith began as trust pledged between…

forum

The Roman forum was not a building but an open…

hibiscus

A Latin word for a marsh mallow wandered through…

hospitāle

A Latin word for a place that welcomes guests became…

iurisprudentia

Jurisprudence — 'knowledge of the law' — is the…

lararium

Every Roman home kept a small shrine to its household…

lardārium

lardarium

The word for a food storage room comes from the Latin…

latitudo

Latitude means breadth — the wide lines circling the…

latrocinium

Larceny — the legal word for theft — descends from the…

longitudo

Longitude means length — the long lines running from…

lūnāticus

For two thousand years, humans believed the full moon…

lūstrum

lustrum

Before it meant five years, a lustrum was a…

magnum

A Latin word meaning simply 'great' or 'large' — the…

Mārs

The Roman god of war became the adjective for military…

matrix

The word for a mother's womb, borrowed to name a…

mercator

The Latin word for a trader — one who deals in merx,…

mercy

Unexpectedly, mercy began with payment withheld.

meridianus

Meridian — the imaginary line that runs from pole to…

minūta

minuta

A minute is not named for its duration but for its…

miracle

Unexpectedly, miracle began with simple wonder.

moneta

The place where money is made takes its name from a…

mūsculus

Roman anatomists watched a flexed bicep ripple under…

mustum ardens

The Romans mixed crushed seeds with mustum —…

navigare

nāvigāre

A Latin compound of 'ship' and 'to drive' — the word…

navis

The central hall of every church in the Western world…

nova

The Latin word for 'new' — nova stella, a new star —…

obsidianus

Obsidian is volcanic glass — lava quenched so rapidly…

occidens

If the Orient is where the sun rises, the Occident is…

oriens

To orient yourself is to find the east — because…

pāgānus

A Latin word meaning 'country dweller' — a rural…

Palatium

Palātium

Every palace in every language traces back to one hill…

plēbiscītum

When the common people of Rome voted without the…

plicare

The Latin verb for folding — plicare, to bend cloth…

plumbārius

Every plumber carries the Latin word for lead in their…

port

The left side of a ship is named for the harbor —…

porticus

A covered walkway that colonized the edges of Roman…

prayer

Oddly, prayer began as a spoken plea.

proverb

Unexpectedly, proverb began as a word put forth in…

rēte

The light-sensitive layer at the back of your eye is…

rubeus

Latin named it simply for its redness — rubeus, red —…

sacrament

Strangely, sacrament began as a soldier's oath.

saint

Unexpectedly, saint first meant simply holy.

salarium

Roman soldiers were paid in salt—or at least that's…

sanctity

Surprisingly, sanctity starts with being set apart.

scrinium

A shrine began as a box — a Roman chest for storing…

secunda

The second is not called 'second' because it follows…

senātor

The Roman Senate took its name from senex — 'old man'…

senātus

The Roman Senate took its name from senex — old man —…

serica

A worsted wool named, at its deepest root, for the…

sinister

The Latin word for 'left-handed' became the English…

stipulārī

Roman contracts were sealed by a verbal exchange — 'Do…

suffrāgium

The Romans cast their votes with small tablets called…

tempestas

Latin named time and weather with the same word —…

uncialis

Uncial script gave the medieval world its most…

vestment

Surprisingly, vestment was once just any garment.

via

The Romans built roads so straight and so durable that…

villa

A Roman villa was not a vacation retreat — it was a…

vindemia

vindēmia

A Latin word for the grape harvest — the annual act of…

vinum

vīnum

A word older than Rome itself — borrowed from a lost…

vulgaris

The Latin word for 'of the common people' described…

Greek

ἀχάτης

akhátēs

A stone named for a Sicilian river carried that…

ἀμάραντος

amárantos

The Greeks imagined a flower that never faded, and…

amenorrhea

Surprisingly, amenorrhea literally means the month…

ἀμνηστία

amnēstía

The ancient Greeks believed a city could heal itself…

ἀμφορεύς

amphoreus

Greek for 'carried on both sides,' the amphora was the…

ἄγκυρα

ánkyra

A Greek word for a bent hook — something that catches…

ἀπόγειον

apógeion

The word for the moon's farthest point from Earth is…

ἀποθήκη

apothēkē

A Greek word for a storehouse became the name for the…

ἀψίνθιον

apsínthion

A Greek word for wormwood — a bitter, aromatic herb…

ἀριστοκρατία

aristokratía

The Greeks named rule by the best — aristoi, the…

αὐτοκρατορία

autokratía

A Greek word meaning 'self-rule' — the power to rule…

βάρβαρος

barbaros

The Greeks heard foreign languages as meaningless…

βούτυρον

boútyron

The Greeks watched the Scythians smear a strange paste…

catechumen

Oddly, catechumen first meant someone being sounded…

χρόνος

chro-nos

The precision marine timekeeper that solved the…

cumin

Surprisingly, cumin is a spice word that traveled with…

δίπλωμα

díplōma

The credential on your wall takes its name from the…

εἰκών

eikṓn

A Greek word meaning 'image' or 'likeness' — a picture…

elegy

Strangely, elegy began as a meter, not a funeral poem.

ἐφήμερος

ephḗmeros

A word meaning 'lasting only a day' became the name…

ἐπίσκοπος

epískopos

A Greek word meaning 'overseer' — someone who watches…

γεράνιον

geránion

The Greeks named this flower for the crane — geranos —…

Γόριλλαι

Górillai

A Carthaginian navigator sailed the West African coast…

γυμνάσιον

gymnasion

The Greeks exercised naked, and the place where they…

γύρος

gýros

The Greek word for a circle or rotation named a way of…

αἱμορραγία

haimorrhagía

The Greeks built this word from blood and bursting — a…

ἡγεμονία

hēgemonía

A Greek word for the leadership one city-state…

ἱερογλυφικά

hieroglyphiká

When Greek scholars first saw the carved signs on…

ἱπποπόταμος

hippopótamos

Greek travelers to Egypt looked at the huge,…

ὕαινα

húaina

The Greeks named the spotted predator after the hog —…

ὑάκινθος

hyákinthos

A flower that carries a death cry in its petals —…

ὑποκριτής

hypokritēs

A hypocrite was an actor on the Athenian stage —…

ἰνδικόν

indikón

The Greeks named this deep blue dye simply 'the Indian…

keramikos

keramikós

From the Greek word for potter's clay, 'ceramic'…

χαμαιλέων

khamailéōn

The Greeks named the color-changing lizard a 'ground…

χρυσάνθεμον

khrysánthemon

A Greek compound meaning 'golden flower' traveled from…

klíma

The Greeks did not name weather — they named the tilt…

κολοφών

kolophōn

The colophon — the note at the end of a book…

κομήτης

komḗtēs

Greeks looked up and saw a star wearing long hair —…

κρόκος

krókos

A small flower with an ancient pedigree — its name…

κῦδος

kudos

Ancient Greek glory became modern English praise — and…

κυκλών

kyklōn

A Victorian meteorologist in 1848 reached back to…

Λακωνικός

Lakonikos

The Spartans were so famous for saying almost nothing…

λάρυγξ

lárynx

The Greeks named the voice box before they fully…

λεοπάρδαλις

leopárdalis

The Greeks believed the leopard was a hybrid of lion…

λεξικόν

lexikon

A lexicon is a word-book — from the Greek word for…

μάρτυς

mártys

A Greek word meaning 'witness' — someone who testifies…

meter

Surprisingly, meter began as a measure before it was…

mitre

Strangely, mitre began as a band tied around the head.

μοναχός

monakhós

A Greek word meaning 'solitary' — one who lives alone…

μονοπώλιον

monopōlion

Greek economists named it four centuries before Christ…

νάρκισσος

nárkissos

A flower that may have been named for numbness — from…

νέκταρ

néktar

The drink of the gods that conferred immortality…

ὤχρα

ōchra

The oldest named color in human history — found on…

ὀλιγαρχία

oligarkhía

A Greek word meaning 'rule by the few' has become the…

Παιώνιον

Paiōnion

The ancient Greeks believed a flower had healed the…

πανδήμιος

pandḗmios

A Greek adjective meaning 'of all the people' — used…

πάνθηρ

pánthēr

The Greeks named the spotted great cat from a compound…

parish

Surprisingly, parish began as a word for living beside…

πίτα

píta

The Greek word for a flatbread or pie may have arrived…

πρεσβύτερος

presbýteros

A Greek word meaning 'elder' — someone older and…

ψαλμός

psalmós

The word psalm means 'a plucking' — the sound of a…

ρεμπέτικο

rembétiko

A word of uncertain origin — possibly from the Turkish…

ῥινόκερως

rhinókeros

The Greeks needed only two words to describe the most…

ῥοδόδενδρον

rhododendron

Rhododendron means 'rose tree' in Greek — a name given…

ῥοδόχρωσις

rhodókhrōsis

Greek for 'rose-colored' — this pink-banded mineral…

schistos

Schist is a metamorphic rock that splits easily along…

σμάραγδος

smáragdos

A Greek word for green stone — borrowed from ancient…

στάδιον

stádion

A Greek unit of distance — about 600 feet — gave its…

στῆθος + σκοπεῖν

stēthos + skopein

Before the stethoscope, physicians pressed their ears…

συναγωγή

synagōgḗ

Before it was a building, a synagogue was an act — the…

τάπης

tápēs

A Greek word for a thick carpet — possibly linked to…

θεραπεία

therapeía

The Greek word for attending to or serving — caring…

τρύπανον

trypanon

The oldest surgical procedure in human history…

Spanish69

adobo

A word for seasoning traveled farther than the empire…

aficionado

Spanish bullfight fans called themselves lovers of the…

alcorque

A Spanish word borrowed from Arabic — itself possibly…

alvear

The Spanish word for beehive or apiary traces to the…

armada

ar·MA·da

The word for a fleet of warships entered English with…

armadillo

The armored animal of the Americas is named with the…

arroyo

An arroyo is a dry creek bed that can fill with…

asado

A verb for roasting became the Southern Cone's civic…

barrio

Barrio names a neighborhood, but it carries within it…

bolero

A Spanish dance in triple time, a Cuban song form in…

bonanza

The word for a sudden windfall originally meant 'good…

bravada

A word for false courage came from a language that…

bronco

The word for an untamed horse literally means 'rough'…

calabozo

The American frontier's slang for a local jail came…

calima

A Spanish word for the hot, dust-laden haze that blows…

cañón

Spanish explorers borrowed a word for a hollow tube…

carga

A Spanish word meaning 'to load' — from the Latin for…

ceviche

A cold fish dish carries the ghost of a hot Persian…

chaveta

A cigar maker's blade is a Latin key with its teeth…

cincha

When you say something is 'a cinch,' you are borrowing…

cochinilla

When the Spanish conquered Mexico, they found the…

conquistador

con·quis·ta·DOR

The men who conquered the Americas carried a title…

cucaracha

The English word cockroach has nothing to do with…

curandera

Across Latin America, the curandera stands at the…

derecho

A Spanish word meaning 'straight' or 'direct' —…

desperado

A desperado was originally a man who had lost all hope…

el lagarto

el la·GAR·to

Spanish explorers arrived in Florida and saw a…

estampida

A Spanish word for a loud crash or stamp became the…

flamenco

The Spanish word for 'Flemish' — a Fleming from…

flotilla

Flotilla is a diminutive — a 'little fleet' — and the…

galeón

The great treasure ships of Spain took their name from…

granada

Spanish soldiers named their exploding spheres after…

guerrilla

When Napoleon invaded Spain, the Spanish fought back…

habanera

ha-ba-NEH-ra

The rhythm that made Carmen one of opera's most…

incomunicado

Incommunicado — held without communication — entered…

junta

A simple word for joining became the cold name of…

juzgado

The Old West slang for jail started as the Spanish…

canasta

kah-NAHS-tah

The card game that swept the English-speaking world in…

la reata

The lasso that roped cattle across the American West…

macho

The Latin word for male became Spanish slang for…

mantilla

The lace veil worn by Spanish women in churches and at…

mesa

The Spanish word for table — the piece of furniture…

mesteño

The mustang — America's wild horse — carries in its…

mole

A regional sauce name became an English culinary…

ombú

ombu

The pampas tree is barely wood. Its name still rooted…

palomino

The golden horse takes its name from the Spanish word…

paso doble

Literally 'double step' in Spanish — a march played as…

patio

The patio is the inner courtyard of a Spanish house —…

pecadillo

pe·ca·DIL·lo

A little sin — the diminutive of the Spanish word for…

pepino

A melon took the old Spanish word for cucumber and…

pepitoria

A dish named for seeds became a method, then a memory…

peso

The Spanish word for 'weight' became the name of a…

piedra de ijada

Spanish conquistadors thought this green stone cured…

plaza

Plaza descends from the Greek word for 'broad' — the…

pronto

When English speakers say 'pronto,' they think they…

renegado

The word for a rebel was first used for Christians who…

rodeo

The Spanish word for a cattle roundup — from rodear,…

salsa

The Spanish word for sauce — salsa, from Latin sal,…

sangría

Spanish for 'bloodletting' — the same word used for…

cilantro

si·LAN·tro

The same plant goes by two names in English depending…

siesta

The Romans counted their day from the sixth…

sombrero

The word just means 'hat' — but the shadow it casts…

zarabanda

tha-ra-BAN-da

One of the most solemn movements in baroque music…

toquilla

The Panama hat is not Panamanian. Its fiber is named…

tornado

The violent storm that twisted its way from Spanish to…

tronada

Spanish sailors caught in tropical thunderstorms gave…

vamos

Vamoose is the American West's most emphatic word for…

vaquero

The most American-sounding cowboy word is actually a…

vigilante

The Spanish word for a watchman or guard — from Latin…

Arabic59

البرقوق

al-barqūq

The apricot made a grand circular journey: probably…

al-ghattas

Arab sailors named the diving bird; Portuguese mangled…

الجبر

al-jabr

A word for setting broken bones became the mathematics…

الخرشوف

al-kharshūf

The vegetable on the dinner plate traveled from Arab…

Mosul

al-Mawṣil

A city in what is now Iraq — Mosul — gave its name to…

araq

araq / arak

The anise-flavored spirit that is Turkey's national…

السَّمْت

as-samt

Azimuth — the compass direction of a celestial object…

قصبة

casbah

A fortress word was repackaged as exotic nightlife in…

داو

dāw

The lateen-sailed wooden vessel that stitched together…

فلافل

falāfil

A humble chickpea fritter born somewhere in the…

فاس

Fās

A hat named for a Moroccan city it may not have even…

فلاحين

fellāḥīn

They built the pyramids' food supply, fed the Roman…

fustānī

A thick cotton-linen cloth whose name may trace to a…

غرافة

gharrafa

Arab glassmakers ladled molten glass into elegant…

غزال

ghazāl

The Arabic word for the swift, graceful antelope of…

haboob

ha-BOOB

The Sudanese Arabic word for a convective dust storm…

حلوى

halwa

A word for sweetness conquered kitchens from Cairo to…

حَمَّام

ḥammām

The bathhouse that preserved Roman bathing culture…

حشيش

hashish

Grass gave English a drug word, and the plant was…

imam

Surprisingly, imam first meant simply one who stands…

jar

jarrah

The humble jar — the vessel in every kitchen,…

jerboa

A desert rodent hopped into English through Latin…

جِرْذ

jird

English took a desert rodent straight from Arabic and…

جلاب

julāb

Arab physicians mixed rose water with medicinal drugs…

خنجر

khanjar

A dagger's name traveled farther than many empires…

خریف

kharīf

Half of South Asia's food grows in a season whose name…

خبز

khubz

The Arabic word for bread — round, wood-fired,…

لُبَان

lubān

A resin so precious that the ancient world called it…

لُبَان جَاوِي

luban jawi

An aromatic resin from Sumatra whose Arabic name means…

مجلس

majlis

The Arabic word for 'sitting together' named both the…

مرزبان

marzaban

A medieval Arabic coin — or perhaps a seated king —…

مَسْجِد

masjid

The Arabic word for a mosque means simply 'a place of…

مُفْتٍ

muftī

The Islamic jurist became British slang for civilian…

mukhayyar

An Arabic word meaning 'choice' or 'select' described…

مسقعة

musaqqaʿa

An Arabic word meaning 'that which has been chilled' —…

قَاضٍ

qāḍī

The Islamic judge who interpreted divine law sat at…

قصيدة

qaṣīda

Before the novel, before the press release, before the…

قيراط

qīrāṭ

Gem dealers weighed diamonds against carob seeds,…

قرمز

qirmiz

The richest red in medieval painting was born from…

qirmiz

Arab traders sold the tiny insects that produced red…

قطن

quṭn

The fabric that built the modern world—and the word…

rāḥat al-yad

rahat al-yad

The Arabic phrase for 'palm of the hand' — the…

رَباب

rebab

A horsehair bow carried an Arabic word across half the…

رياض

riyāḍ

The Arabic word for garden — a paradise enclosed…

ream

rizmah

Every time you buy a ream of paper — five hundred…

risk

rizq

The word that defines insurance, finance, and decision…

سَمَاع

samāʿ

Listening to music was once a theological controversy…

سمت الرأس

samt al-ra's

Arab astronomers looked straight up and named that…

شراب

sharāb

The Arabic word for 'drink' became the English word…

siqlatun

A luxurious Eastern cloth — its name untranslatable,…

صفة

suffa

A raised platform in a mosque became the centerpiece…

سلطان

sultan

Power itself became a title before it became a man.

تعريفة

ta'rīfa

An Arabic word for notification became how nations…

tamr hindī

Tamarind's name means 'Indian date' in Arabic—the…

tare

tarha

The scientific term for the weight of a container…

za'farān

The world's most expensive spice—worth more than gold…

زرافة

zarāfa

Medieval Europeans thought it was half-camel,…

عطر

ʿiṭr

Attar of roses — the concentrated essential oil…

عود

ʿūd

The ancestor of the European lute carries its own…

French58

allemande

The French word for 'German' became the name of a…

amuse-bouche

Before the menu begins, a small gift arrives unbidden…

baguette

A French word for a small stick — a wand, a…

baïonnette

A French city gave its name to the blade that…

barricade

The first barricades were made of barrels -- French…

bésigue

bay-ZEEG

A 19th-century French card game that became briefly…

bistro

The word bistro may carry inside it a Russian…

braise

French cooks named their slow-cooking method after…

brûlée

A French word meaning simply 'burned' — the feminine…

bureau

A French word for a writing desk — named for the rough…

cabaret

Surprise: cabaret was a tavern before it was a show.

calumet

A sacred pipe reached English through a word that…

camouflage

The French word for blowing smoke in someone's face —…

chartreuse

A monastery liqueur lent its name to a color so…

clique

A French word that may have begun as the sound of a…

cloisonné

From the French word for 'partitioned,' cloisonne…

corde du roi

The ribbed fabric supposedly named for the king's…

croissant

A crescent moon baked into bread — the French word for…

cuisine

Cuisine comes from Latin coquina — a kitchen. The word…

débris

The French word for breaking things apart gave English…

dent de lion

French peasants looked at a common weed and saw a…

dressage

The most demanding equestrian discipline borrows its…

encore

Encore — the cry that demands the performer return for…

épaulette

The ornamental shoulder pad of military dress uniforms…

espionnage

The French word for the organized gathering of secret…

étiquette

A small ticket or label posted in a royal garden to…

faïence

A gleaming tin-glazed earthenware named for the…

fin de siècle

fin de siecle

The phrase meaning 'end of the century' became, in the…

gâteau

The French word for cake carries a castle inside it —…

julienne

A chef's knife technique became a proper name, and a…

lieu + tenant

lieu tenant

French for 'place-holder' became every army's word for…

limonade

A Persian citrus fruit crossed the Arab world, seeded…

macaron

For five centuries, a macaron was a simple almond…

maraud

A French word for a vagrant became the English word…

mayonnaise

may-oh-NAYZ

The most ubiquitous condiment in the world carries an…

meringue

Meringue is the alchemist's dream of the kitchen —…

narghile

A water pipe is named after a coconut. That is not a…

parterre

The parterre — a formal garden of geometric beds seen…

peloton

A platoon was a 'small ball' of soldiers — from the…

plateau

French for a flat plate — the same word that holds…

Praslin

A French marshal's cook accidentally dropped almonds…

ragoût

To restore the appetite, to revive the taste — the…

ratatouille

A Provençal peasant dish of stewed summer vegetables…

reconnaissance

The military term for scouting enemy positions is…

rémoulade

remoulade

A sauce whose name most likely derives from a word for…

restaurant

Before it was a place to eat, a restaurant was a thing…

saboteur

The person in wooden shoes who wrecks the machinery —…

sauter

The French word for jumping gave its name to the…

sémaphore

A Greek compound meaning 'sign-bearer' named a system…

chaudière

shoh-DYAIR

New England's great seafood soup is named not for any…

solitaire

SOL-ih-tair

A word meaning 'alone' that names a dozen different…

syllabary

Surprisingly, syllabary was named in 1876 to map whole…

toile

The French word simply means 'cloth' — yet in English…

toque

The tall white hat that announces a chef across a…

trompe-l'oeil

The phrase means 'deceives the eye,' and for three…

tuyère

The nozzle that feeds the forge its breath — an…

voile

The French word for sail names a fabric so sheer and…

gigue

ZHEEG

The frenzied finale of the baroque suite was…

Old English43

æcer

A measurement born from the strength of one ox on one…

barn

BARN

The barn is not a building for animals. It was built…

brimstone

Before it was sulfur and before it was a chemical…

bryne

Before refrigeration existed, the difference between…

dēor

deor

Before it meant a graceful antlered creature in the…

dōm

Doom originally meant a judgment, a law, a decree —…

drēosan

An Old English word meaning 'to fall' or 'to drip' —…

drūgoþ

Old English named the drying of the land with a word…

feor

Distance measured not in miles but in longing.

fēowertīene niht

Old English counted time by nights rather than days —…

galga

The word for the execution frame descends from a term…

gōdspel

Old English speakers translated the Greek word for…

helma

An Old English word for a ship's steering device — the…

herebeorg

A word that began as a military encampment — shelter…

hleo + weard

hleo-weard

An Old English compound meaning 'toward the shelter' —…

holy

Holy began as a word for wholeness.

hulu

An Old English word meaning 'husk' or 'shell' — the…

mæddre

The oldest red dye in the human toolkit came from a…

mæst

The tall spar that carries a ship's sails shares its…

mete

Long before it meant the flesh of animals, this word…

mōd

In Old English, mood did not mean a passing emotional…

nǣddre

naeddre

The snake was a nadder for a thousand years until the…

nun

Surprisingly, nun may come from a word for an elderly…

prættiġ

praettig

Before it meant attractive, pretty meant cunning,…

pyle

A Germanic word for a small cushion supporting the…

quench

To extinguish — but when a blacksmith quenches hot…

sēarian

searian

An Old English word for drying out and withering — the…

seofon nihta

Before there was a 'week,' English speakers counted…

smōc

The Old English word for smoke was also the word for…

spindel

An Old English word built from the verb 'to spin' —…

stēorbord

The right side of a ship is the 'steering board' side…

steorfan

This word once meant simply to die — from any cause,…

stirrup

A loop of leather and iron so simple that it changed…

threshing

The most violent moment in farming — beating the grain…

þȳmel

thymel

An Old English word built from 'thumb' — þȳmel, a…

twili

An Old English word meaning 'two-threaded' —…

wād

Before indigo arrived from India, Europeans had only…

wergild

Wergild — the 'man-price' — was the sum of money that…

whey

The thin, watery liquid left after milk curdles has…

wīnġeard

wīngeard

An Old English compound that yoked together the Roman…

wren

Europe's smallest common bird carries one of the…

writ

For a thousand years, English law moved by written…

wrought

The past tense that outlived its own verb — the worked…

Malay42

agar-agar

A laboratory staple began as seaweed jelly in island…

amuk

When someone 'runs amok,' they're doing something the…

atap

attap

A roof became a word. Colonial English kept the roof…

babirusa

Its name says pig-deer. It is neither.

barang

One of Southeast Asia's most ordinary words simply…

belacan

One of Southeast Asia's strongest smells became an…

binturong

One rainforest mammal reached English with a name…

kati

caddy / kati

The tea caddy — the little box that holds the tea…

cendol

Surprisingly, cendol began as the green strands, not…

damar

dammar

A tree resin gave English two m's for no good reason.

duri

durian

The king of fruits — banned from hotels, beloved by…

duyung

The shy, slow-moving sea mammal that may have inspired…

gambier

gambir

The astringent plant extract that once formed a…

genggang

The striped fabric that became picnic tablecloths —…

gutta-percha

getah perca

The rubbery sap of a tropical tree became the…

gudang

The Southeast Asian warehouse that British merchants…

hantu

The Malay world is populated by a taxonomy of spirits…

ikat

Before the loom is even dressed, the threads are…

kakatua

The crested parrot whose name imitates its call.

compound

kampong

The English word compound, meaning a fenced enclosure…

kampung

The Malay word for 'village' gave English 'compound' —…

ketupat

A woven rice cake became a sermon you can eat.

cootie

kutu

The childhood playground insult and the World War I…

launch

lanchar

The English word for a large open boat — the launch…

latah

A sudden noise and the body takes over — the Malay…

lemang

Rice in bamboo is older than the states that claim it.

luri

A parrot that drinks nectar instead of cracking seeds…

makan

In maritime Southeast Asia, to eat became a social…

manggis

Queen Victoria reportedly offered a reward to anyone…

Mata Hari

mata hari

Before it became a byword for seductive espionage,…

nipah

nipa

Nipa is the Malay name for the mangrove palm whose…

pandan

The fragrant leaf that flavors Southeast Asian sweets…

parang

The heavy chopping blade used throughout Southeast…

prahu

proa / prahu

The proa is a Malay outrigger sailing vessel so fast…

rambutan

Rambutan — 'the hairy one' — is the Malay name for a…

rotan

The cane that furnished colonial homes kept its Malay…

sagu

The palm starch that fed Southeast Asia — named in…

sarung

One rectangle of cloth, wrapped a thousand different…

siamang

One of the loudest apes on earth keeps a local…

tahil

tael

A Malay weight became Chinese money in English ledgers.

takraw

A woven ball gave half its name to an international…

teripang

trepang

A sea cucumber paid for one of Australia's oldest…

Nahuatl36

achiotl

The lipstick tree produces seeds coated in a vivid…

ahuacamolli

Avocado sauce became Super Bowl essential—the Aztec…

ātlātl

Before the bow and arrow reached the Americas, hunters…

atole

One of the oldest American drinks is named with almost…

axolotl

āxōlōtl

The Aztecs named a creature that refuses to grow up —…

cacahuatl

A Nahuatl word for the bitter cacao bean — mangled…

tlacomiztli

cacomistle

An animal with a thief's face still carries an Aztec…

chayote

This wrinkled squash crossed an empire and kept almost…

chian

chia

A tiny seed crossed from tribute ledgers to wellness…

chictli

chicle

Modern chewing gum began as tree latex with a Nahua…

chilpoctli

The Aztecs smoke-dried their chilies for…

chinampa

The Aztecs grew an entire empire's food supply on…

copalli

The sacred resin that burned in Aztec temples during…

coyotl

The trickster of Aztec mythology became America's most…

elote

A street snack name still carries an empire older than…

epazotl

A pungent herb that smells simultaneously of gasoline,…

guachin

hoatzin

A bird of the Amazon carries a name that probably…

huipilli

The most important garment in Mesoamerican women's…

xacalli

jacal

A humble mud hut crossed empires and kept its walls.

jícama

jicama

A root from central Mexico renamed itself in global…

cacahuatl

kakawatl

The bitter drink of Aztec gods became the world's…

mexcalli

The Aztecs roasted agave hearts and called them cooked…

milpan

For three thousand years, Mesoamerican farmers grew…

nāhualli

nahual

A word for hidden transformation survived the empire…

nopalli

The prickly pear cactus that became the symbol of…

ocelotl

Aztec jaguar warriors wore its spotted skin into…

peyōtl

peyote

A desert cactus became a courtroom word and a…

poliuhqui

The fermented sap of the maguey cactus was the sacred…

pozolli

The most sacred Aztec ritual food was a corn hominy…

quetzalli

The iridescent green bird whose tail feathers were…

sapote

A soft tropical fruit reached English wearing a…

tamalli

Wrapped in corn husks and steamed since ancient…

tejate

This drink looks like foam and tastes like an older…

teōcalli

teocalli

The Aztec temple English remembers is really just a…

Tequila

Tequila is a city before it is a drink—a Nahuatl place…

ōllamaliztli

ulama

A precolonial ballgame word still lives in northwest…

Ancient Greek34

Ἀμαζών

Amazōn

A mythological nation of warrior women gave their name…

amenorrhoea

Strangely, it names absence by naming the month.

ἀμνησία

amnēsia

The word for forgetting is built on a Greek root that…

Ἄτλας

Átlas

Atlas carried the sky on his shoulders for eternity —…

βασιλική

basilikē

A royal hall for merchants and magistrates became the…

χρυσαλλίς

chrysallís

The protective casing in which a caterpillar…

διάλυσις

dialysis

The Greek word for dissolution and separation entered…

διατριβή

diatribē

A diatribe was not always an angry rant — it began as…

δραχμή

drachmē

The Greek word for money meant a handful —…

γεωγραφία

geographia

The Greeks did not merely explore the earth — they…

ἑβδομάς

hebdomas

The Greeks had a word for 'a group of seven' that…

heretic

Surprisingly, heretic began as a word for choosing.

ὕβρις

hybris

The Greeks knew: excessive pride summons its own…

ἰσθμός

isthmos

A narrow neck of land connecting two larger bodies —…

μεταμόρφωσις

metamórphōsis

The word for biological transformation was ancient…

μίασμα

míasma

For two thousand years, doctors and governments…

Μουσεῖον

Mouseion

A temple to the Muses — nine goddesses of artistic and…

νοῦς

NOOS

The ancient Greek term for pure intelligence — the…

ὀβελίσκος

obelískos

An obelisk is a diminutive — the Greeks called it a…

οἶκος

oikos

The Greek word for 'household' is the ancestor of both…

Ὀλυμπιάς

Olympias

Before the modern world settled on numbering years…

πάπυρος

pápyros

An Egyptian reed lent its name to every writing…

παράδειγμα

parádeigma

A 'paradigm shift' sounds like modern jargon, but the…

peplos

The flared ruffle at the hip of a jacket or dress—a…

περιφέρεια

periphéreia

Periphery began as the Greek word for the…

philology

Surprisingly, philology first meant love of learned…

ψυχή

psykhē

The word for the mind, the soul, and the discipline…

σίνδων

sindon

A cloth word crossed empires before cotton conquered…

σύναψις

sýnapsis

The tiny gap between neurons — the junction across…

τάλαντον

tálanton

A unit of weight became a unit of currency became a…

θησαυρός

thēsaurós

A thesaurus is a treasure chest — the Greeks used the…

τοπογραφία

topographia

Where geography writes the whole earth, topography…

τρόπαιον

trópaion

After routing the enemy, Greeks hung captured armor on…

τροπικός

tropikos

The tropics are named for a turning. The Greek…

Old French32

baril

A French word of uncertain origin — possibly from a…

blanc mangier

bla-MAHNZH

A medieval dish called 'white food' began as a savory…

bœuf

English farmers raised cows — but the meat on a Norman…

boie

A French word for a chain or fetter — something that…

bougette

A budget was a small leather bag — the Chancellor's…

burel

A bureau was a coarse woolen cloth — the fabric that…

clou (de girofle)

clou de girofle

The French saw tiny dried flower buds arriving from…

couvre-feu

A curfew was an order to cover your fire — medieval…

coverte

In hunting, a covert is the thicket where game takes…

embusche

An ambush hides in the bushes -- literally. Old French…

empire

Curiously, empire began as command before it meant…

garison

A garrison was not soldiers but safety itself — from a…

grille

A Latin word for a lattice of woven bars — a…

lancette

Medieval surgeons named their small surgical blade…

mareschal

The marshal began in the stable — Frankish marhskalk…

moneie

The word money traces back to the Roman goddess Juno…

mort gage

The word for your home loan literally means 'death…

moton

The English shepherd called the animal a sheep. The…

parbouillir

A word that originally meant 'to boil thoroughly' —…

pardonner

The French word for the most sovereign act a ruler…

patois

A word that originally meant 'rough speech' — possibly…

porc

The Anglo-Saxon swineherd called the animal a pig. The…

potage

Pottage lost its 't' and gained an 'r' somewhere in…

prisun

The word prison comes from Latin prehensio — the act…

rostir

A Frankish word for the iron grid on which meat was…

soudier

A person defined not by courage or duty but by the…

soverain

From Latin super — 'above' — came the French word for…

suzerain

The lord who sat above was named for the directional…

trahiner

A French word meaning to drag or pull — from Latin…

trousse

A truss is a bundle — and the word reveals how…

vinaigre

The French looked at their ruined wine and named what…

jaiet

zhah-YET

The intensely black gem that the Victorians made into…

Italian30

andante

The word that tells musicians to walk — andante…

aria

The Italian word for air — the stuff you breathe —…

brigantino

A two-masted ship was named for the brigands who used…

broccolo

The Italians named it for what it looked like —…

bruschetta

Before it became a restaurant appetizer topped with…

campanile

The Italian word for a bell tower contains within it…

cantabile

A single word that contains an entire philosophy of…

cavalcata

cavalcāta

An Italian word for a parade of horses galloped into…

cavaliere

The Italian word for a horseman became a royalist…

cittadella

A citadel is a little city -- Italian cittadella is…

con brio

The instruction to play 'with brio' — with verve,…

con fuoco

The musical instruction 'with fire' traces its heat…

contrapposto

The pose that made sculpture look alive — one hip…

dupioni

doo-pee-OH-nee

The most irregularly lustrous of all silks comes from…

duetto

Italian musicians took the Latin word for two,…

fregata

A Mediterranean word of uncertain origin — perhaps…

gambetto

The chess opening where you sacrifice a pawn is named…

gnocchi

The little lumps of potato dough whose name might mean…

impresario

The person who undertakes the risk of staging art —…

infanteria

Infantry literally means 'the children' — soldiers too…

intavolatura

The horizontal band sitting atop a column — frieze,…

loggia

A loggia is a roofed gallery open on one or more sides…

maiolica

Majolica — named for the island of Majorca through…

marcato

An Italian word meaning 'marked' or 'hammered' — from…

mezzana

The aftermost mast on a sailing ship takes its name…

moschetto

Italian soldiers named their new firearm after a…

piazza

The Romans paved wide roads and the Greeks built open…

portolano

The medieval sailing charts that guided ships from one…

presto

The fastest of the standard Italian tempo markings…

vermicelli

The delicate pasta's name means 'little worms'—because…

Dutch30

baas

Dutch workers called their master or employer baas —…

blaf

Dutch sailors used one word for the broad, flat bow of…

boel

The English bully began as a term of endearment — a…

brandewijn

Dutch merchants discovered that burning wine to…

de kooi

The first decoy was not a wooden duck but a cage —…

donderbus

A Dutch thunder-gun with a flared barrel that…

doop

A thick sauce for dipping — that is what the Dutch…

drillen

A Dutch word that meant to bore a hole and to turn…

ezel

The painter's easel is a donkey — Dutch artists named…

husselen

Hustle began with shaking lots in a hat — Dutch…

jacht

Dutch sailors built fast, light ships called jachten —…

jenever

The Dutch named their juniper spirit jenever after the…

koolsla

A simple Dutch cabbage salad sailed to America with…

kruisen

Dutch sailors used kruisen — to sail crosswise, to…

landschap

Dutch painters invented a word for a painting of land…

manneken

mannequin

A little-man word became the silent body of modern…

polder

A country that built itself from the sea floor,…

ranten

A Dutch word for talking foolishly or raving crossed…

rooster

The Dutch word for a grid or grating — the lined paper…

schets

A word for a quick drawing came from the Dutch who…

schipper

The Dutch captain of a river barge became the word for…

schoener

When a new kind of ship slid into Gloucester Harbor, a…

slim

In Dutch the word means crafty, clever, or shrewd —…

sloep

A small Dutch vessel that could slip through shallow…

snoepen

The Dutch verb snoepen meant to eat sweets on the sly…

spook

A Dutch word for ghosts crossed the Atlantic with…

tafereel

The decorated rail at a ship's stern began as a wooden…

trekker

The Dutch word for 'puller' — the lever you pull to…

verlof

A Dutch soldier's right to temporary leave from…

vrijbuiter

Dutch pirates who plundered under no flag coined the…

Persian29

اسپاناخ

aspanakh

A Persian vegetable word that crossed into Arabic,…

بادنگان

badingan

The eggplant's elegant French name is Persian at its…

بریان

bi-RYA-ni

The most beloved rice dish of South Asia carries a…

بته

boteh

A teardrop-shaped Persian motif traveled from Iranian…

دیوان

divān

A Persian word for accounts became a Turkish council,…

دُلْبَنْد

dulband

Persian for a 'twisted sash,' the turban traveled…

کاروان

kārvān

Merchants crossing deserts needed safety in…

کاروانسرا

kārvānsarā

The Persian roadside inn that kept the Silk Road alive…

kenaf

A rope plant carries an old cannabis cousin's name.

لوزینه

lawzineh

An almond-shaped Persian sweet cake gave its name to a…

لیلک

līlak

A Persian word meaning 'bluish' named a flowering…

مارخور

markhor

The goat's name says it eats snakes. The goat does no…

ملا

mullah

A word for a learned man began as a word for a master.

نان

nān

The Persian word for bread is one of the most ancient…

پنیر

paneer

India's most famous fresh cheese arrived with a…

پشمینه

pashmineh

From the Persian word for wool — pashm — comes the…

پسته

pista

The green nut's name has traveled through five…

پلو

polow

The method of cooking rice that keeps every grain…

قنات

qanat

A tunnel under a desert taught cities how to exist.

قرابه

qarrāba

The large glass bottle used in chemistry labs and…

قورمه

qorma

A method of preserving meat became one of South Asia's…

ریوند

rīwand

The dramatic plant at the back of every English garden…

رخ

rukh

The castle-shaped chess piece you've been calling a…

شلوار

salwar

A Persian trouser marched into South Asia and never…

سمبوسه

sambūsa

A filled pastry named in Persian traveled the medieval…

سرای

sarāy

A single Persian word for a grand enclosed dwelling…

شاه

shah

The game the Indians invented and the Persians named —…

shamshir

shamshīr

Persian gave the curved cavalry sword a name meaning…

یاسمین

yāsamīn

A Persian name for a fragrant white flower traveled…

English25

balti

A Birmingham curry carries a mountain name, or maybe a…

blastogeny

Strangely, blastogeny is birth by budding.

blastophyly

Unexpectedly, blastophyly is kinship traced through…

bogey

A bogey in golf is one stroke over par, but the word…

broadside

BRAWD-syd

A single large sheet printed on one side was the…

Charleston

CHARLZ-tun

The dance that defined the Jazz Age takes its name…

crumpet

Pocked with holes by design — the British crumpet's…

dhole

An Indian wild dog entered English with an origin…

dis

Surprisingly, dis is a clipped insult born in rap-era…

doldrums

DOHL-drumz

The equatorial belt of calms that trapped sailing…

emblic

An Indian fruit reached English wearing a French coat…

executress

Surprisingly, executress is a legal title shaped by…

knot-garden

The Elizabethan knot garden was a bed of herbs clipped…

cribbage

KRIB-ij

The only major card game widely credited to a single…

kurbash

A whip crossed empires and became shorthand for…

lorry

Britain's everyday truck has an origin nobody can…

Mary's gold

A flower named for the Virgin Mary — Mary's gold —…

mythic

Surprisingly, mythic began as a label for spoken tale.

papoose

An Algonquian child-word shrank into English baby talk…

sermon

Plain talk became a sacred address.

settee

The settee — an upholstered seat for two or three —…

simmer

An English word that imitates the soft, murmuring…

sunbird

A tropical jewel got a plain English name.

the blue devils

A seventeenth-century English phrase for demons of…

whist

wist

The card game that trained the English-speaking world…

Quechua25

arracacha

This carrot-shaped root reached Spanish with its…

ayahuasca

ayawaska

The 'vine of the dead' — a ritual brew whose Quechua…

ayllu

The fundamental unit of Andean social organization —…

cancha

A corn snack gave Spanish one of its most useful words…

choclo

Spanish borrowed one Andean word for corn because…

wanu

guano

Bird droppings once financed states and renamed global…

Inti

The Inca sun god — whose name is simply the Quechua…

quipu

khipu

The Inca Empire administered millions of people…

kina

Quinine is the bitter alkaloid extracted from the bark…

kuka

Coca is the sacred leaf of the Andes, chewed for…

kuntur

The Andean bird that carries souls to the sun—its name…

oca

A tuber from the Andes kept its mountain name almost…

Pachamama

The Andean earth goddess — whose name joins 'time' and…

pampa

Pampa is the word for the great treeless grasslands of…

pisco

The Peruvian brandy whose name means 'bird' — and…

puma

The Inca word for their sacred mountain lion now sells…

puna

The high treeless plain of the Andes — cold,…

qina

quena

One of the Andes' oldest flutes reached English…

cuy

quwi

The guinea pig — domesticated in the Andes some 5,000…

soroche

suruchi

Altitude sickness acquired its South American name…

totora

A reed built boats, islands, roofs, and a word across…

ulluco

This tuber crossed an empire and still never conquered…

guanaco

wanaku

The wild ancestor of the llama — lean, wary, and…

wikuña

The vicuña is the wild camelid of the high Andes whose…

Wiraqocha

The Inca creator deity — whose name may mean 'sea of…

Hindi24

अचकन

achkan

A coat stitched between empires still looks like…

बांसुरी

bansuri

A flute kept the memory of bamboo inside its name.

भरल

bharal

The blue sheep is not a sheep. The old name ignores…

बिंदी

bindi

A dot became a jewel, a sign, and an argument.

चपाती

chapātī

The Hindi word for India's most consumed flatbread is…

चारपाई

charpoy

An English camp bed is literally just a four-legged…

चटनी

chaṭnī

The condiment that conquered British tables — and…

छींट

chīṇṭ

The fabric that once dazzled Europe was so popular it…

दही

dahi

One of South Asia's oldest foods is still called by an…

दरी

dhurrie

A floor covering gave empire one of its most portable…

घाट

ghat

A staircase became a mountain range and a riverbank at…

جلبی

jalebi

A fried spiral from Baghdad became festival sugar in…

खादी

khadi

A homespun cloth became a political weapon.

खाट

khāṭ

The Indian bed frame that became the hospital bed and…

कुर्ता

kurta

A simple shirt carries the memory of Persian courts.

लूट

lūṭ

The Hindi word for plunder entered English during the…

मसाला

masala

The word for spice mixture now seasons songs, films,…

नीलगाय

nilgai

India's largest antelope is named as if it were a blue…

पान

paan

A leaf became a ritual.

पक्का

pakkā

The Hindi word for 'cooked' became British slang for…

पकोड़ा

pakora

The name of a fritter probably began as a word for…

tāḍī

A fermented sap drink tapped from palm trees in India…

तराई

terai

A word for wet ground came to name one of South Asia's…

टोपी

ṭopī (Hindi)

The pith helmet became the visual signature of British…

Tamil23

அணைக்கட்டு

anicut

A village dam in Tamil country renamed river…

அப்பளம்

appalam

A thin disc from village kitchens became a global…

அரிசி

arici

The grain that feeds half the world — and whose…

கஞ்சி

congee

A humble rice gruel traveled empire routes and fed…

சுருட்டு

curuṭṭu

The cigar without a pointed end — and a Tamil word for…

தோசை

dosa

A fermented crepe from South India outlived empires…

gingelly

English named sesame oil with a Tamil word and then…

கோபுரம்

gopuram

South India made a gateway so tall the gate became the…

இடியாப்பம்

idiyappam

Threads of rice became one of South India's oldest…

கறி

kaṟi

A Tamil word for sauce or gravy became the British…

கறிவேப்பிலை

kariveppilai

Tamil cooks named this leaf for the dish it defined,…

காசு

kāsu

A Tamil word for "coin" became the universal word for…

கட்டுமரம்

kaṭṭumaram

The Tamil 'tied logs' became the world's fastest…

மிளகுத்தண்ணீர்

miḷaku-taṇṇīr

Pepper water — the Tamil soup British colonizers…

முறுக்கு

murukku

The snack is named after a twist, and the twist is the…

பச்சிலை

paccilai

The heavy, earthy perfume that scented Victorian…

பப்படம்

pappaḍam

The crackling, thin wafer that ends the meal before it…

பறையர்

paṟaiyar

A Tamil caste name became English's cruelest word for…

ரசம்

rasam

A word for essence became the thin broth people trust…

சாம்பார்

sambar

A royal kitchen accident probably named the broth that…

உப்புமா

upma

A simple breakfast word traveled farther than many…

வெற்றிலை

veṟṟilai

The leaf that stained the lips of emperors and…

வெட்டிவேர்

vettiver

A Tamil root that perfumed empires and cooled the…

Russian22

атаман

ataman

The Cossack chief who led free riders across the…

балалайка

balalayka

The triangle-bodied lute became the sound of…

белуга

beluga

The Russian word for 'white' gave its name to two very…

боярин

boyarin

The Russian aristocrats who preceded the Romanovs bore…

чернозём

chernozem

The blackest dirt in Europe became an international…

гусли

gusli

A plural noun became the singular emblem of an old…

интеллигенция

intelligentsiya

Russian writers of the 1860s coined a word for the…

копейка

kopeyka

Named for the tiny horseman with a spear stamped on…

кремль

kreml'

Kremlin is not a name but a common noun — the Russian…

мужик

mujik

A word for a peasant still sounds like a verdict on a…

область

oblast

An ordinary word for region became one of empire's…

орда

orda

From royal palace to invading horde, one word for…

пельмени

pel'meni

Pelmeni — Russian meat dumplings — carry their origin…

перестройка

perestroyka

"Restructuring" was supposed to save the Soviet…

пирожки

pirozhki

The diminutive of the Russian word for pie produced…

погром

pogrom

Russia gave the world a word for organized mass…

samovar

The self-boiler that warmed Russian winters became a…

шапка

shapka

The Russian word for a fur hat — born of necessity in…

шашлык

shashlik

The word for skewered grilled meat crossed from…

Строганов

STRO-ga-noff

One of the world's most famous beef dishes is named…

тройка

troyka

Three horses pulled a sleigh across the Russian…

верста

versta

Russia measured its vast distances in a unit derived…

German21

abseilen

Abseil means nothing more complicated than 'off rope'…

Akkordeon

Named for the chord — Akkord in German — the accordion…

Bildungsroman

German literary criticism invented a name for the…

Blitzkrieg

The German word for 'lightning war' was not invented…

Blitzkrieg

Lightning war—Germany's devastating military…

Geist

The German word for mind, spirit, and ghost all at…

Gemütlichkeit

Gemuetlichkeit

The German concept that German-Americans transplanted…

Gesundheit

The German word for 'health' — used as a blessing…

Graupel

A German word for tiny, soft pellets of ice — snow…

Hamster

The hamster's name carries a five-thousand-year-old…

Hinterland

German geographers named the territory behind a port…

Kuchen

kuchen

Cake and kitchen are cousins. German kept the older…

Lederhosen

Leather breeches worn by Alpine farmers for hard…

Pudel

The poodle's elaborate show-ring haircut was not…

Sauerkraut

The fermented cabbage that fed European armies,…

Schnaps

A German word for a snap or gulp — the sharp, fast…

Strudel

A German word for a whirlpool or eddy named a pastry…

verboten

The German past participle meaning 'forbidden' entered…

Wanderlust

A word English borrowed whole because it had no…

Weltanschauung

A German compound for the way one contemplates the…

Zeppelin

A Swabian count spent his retirement engineering the…

Portuguese19

albino

Portuguese explorers coined a Latin-rooted word for…

auto da fé

The ceremony in which the Inquisition announced its…

barroco

The art-historical term for Europe's most elaborately…

bossa nova

The name of Brazil's most sophisticated musical export…

capoeira

The martial art disguised as dance — developed by…

caravela

The small, nimble ship that opened the Age of…

cobra de capello

Portuguese sailors named it the 'hooded snake' and…

comando

The word that came to name the British military's most…

ema

The largest bird in Australia wears a name given it…

embaraçar

The English word for social mortification began as a…

fado

Portugal's great music of longing is named for fate —…

feitiço

Portuguese sailors in West Africa called the sacred…

mandarim

Portuguese merchants borrowed a Malay word for a…

melaço

The slow pour of molasses carries inside it the Latin…

palavra

The English word for tedious talk comes from the…

sabe

When a sailor asked 'savvy?' along the Atlantic coast…

sargaço

The mysterious floating weed that fills a still patch…

saudade

A word that defines a nation's soul—and has no…

Vinho do Porto

Port wine is named for a city it was never actually…

Swahili19

asante

The Swahili word for 'thank you' is not a native Bantu…

baraza

A bench became a parliament without ever leaving the…

boma

A thorn-fence enclosure to protect cattle became the…

bwana

The colonial master's most confident title — the word…

hakuna matata

Disney didn't invent it — Swahili speakers have been…

harambee

The national motto of Kenya — printed on its coat of…

jambo

The Swahili greeting that every tourist learns first —…

jenga

A global tower game is named by a verb meaning build.

kwanza

An American professor invented a new holiday in 1966…

mchoro

A line drawn in sand became the blueprint for an…

ugali

oo-GAH-lee

The Swahili word for the stiff maize porridge that is…

panga

The broad-bladed machete that clears East African…

rafiki

The word for 'friend' that traveled from East Africa…

simba

The Swahili word for lion — one of the oldest animal…

sukuma

Sukuma means 'push' in Swahili, and the name of the…

tembo

In Swahili, the same word means both elephant and palm…

twiga

The giraffe has one of the most onomatopoetically…

uhuru

The Swahili word for 'freedom' became the rallying cry…

ujamaa

A family word became the name of a national economic…

Japanese18

合気道

aikidō

The 'way of harmonizing energy' asks practitioners to…

弁当

bento

A convenience-store lunch box carries a bureaucrat's…

琵琶

biwa

Japan's biwa began as a Chinese name that imitated…

武士道

bushidō

The samurai code of honor was not written down until…

餃子

gyōza

A Chinese dumpling that Japanese soldiers brought home…

襦袢

juban

An undergarment borrowed from Portuguese became…

柔道

jūdō

The 'gentle way' was designed not to destroy an…

神風

kamikaze

The Japanese word for the typhoons that shattered…

かわいい

kawaii

The word for cute began much closer to pitiable.

忍者

ninja

The 'one who endures' was never a masked acrobat — the…

能

noh

A word that meant ability became Japan's most…

薩摩

satsuma

A citrus fruit is named for a Japanese domain, not for…

将軍

shogun

Japan's most famous ruler began as a job title, not a…

数独

sūdoku

The number puzzle that conquered newspapers wasn't…

寿司

sushi

The word means 'sour rice' — a preservation technique…

ツンデレ

tsundere

A manga character trait became a global emotional…

和紙

WA·shi

The paper that Japanese craftspeople have made from…

財閥

zaibatsu

Japan built modern capitalism with family empires,…

Turkish17

ayran

A peasant yogurt drink outlived sultans and became a…

bayram

bairam

A festival word crossed borders faster than empires…

başlık

bashlyk

A simple hood rode from Turkic headgear into imperial…

bey armudu

A Turkish phrase meaning 'lord's pear' -- a fruit too…

börek

borek

A folded pastry gave English one of its crispest…

boş

A Turkish word meaning 'empty' or 'worthless' --…

bulgur

A Turkish word for cracked, parboiled wheat that…

havyar

caviar

Luxury's favorite garnish may carry a Turkic name…

çubuk

A Turkish word for a stick or rod -- something…

kalpak

A Turkish word for a tall, conical fur hat -- the…

kilim

A flat-woven rug without knots or pile — just…

Osmanlı

A dynasty named for a fourteenth-century tribal…

paşa

A title of the highest Ottoman rank — given to…

طغرا

tughra

An empire signed itself with a picture too complex to…

yatağan

A curved sword without a guard -- named for the…

yeniçeri

An elite Ottoman infantry corps recruited from…

yoğurt

Central Asian nomads preserved milk with bacteria—and…

Tagalog17

abaka

abaca

Abaca is the Tagalog name for a Philippine banana…

anito

The dead became carved figures, household gods, and…

bahala na

ba-HA-la NA

The Tagalog phrase often translated as 'whatever will…

bagoong

Filipino cuisine built a national flavor from…

barong Tagalog

The national formal garment of the Philippines is a…

bundok

American soldiers mispronounced "mountain"—and made it…

kalamansi

calamansi

A backyard citrus became a diaspora flavor passport.

ilang-ilang

EE-lang EE-lang

The flower whose name means 'flower of flowers' in…

halo-halo

HA-lo HA-lo

The name of the Philippines' most beloved dessert…

kalabaw

ka-la-BOW

The water buffalo of the Philippines carries a name…

kogon

KOH-gon

A grass so aggressive that ecologists call it 'the…

kundiman

koon-dee-MAHN

The most beloved song form of the Philippines was born…

utang na loob

OO-tang na LO-ob

The Tagalog concept of a debt owed not in money but…

pakikisama

pa-kee-kee-SA-ma

The Tagalog concept of going along with the group, of…

parol

A lamp from Spain became a star in the Philippines.

salakot

An anticolonial hat gave Europe one of its favorite…

tamaraw

tamarau

One Philippine buffalo travels globally under a…

Mongolian16

айл

ail

Family, hearth, and the circle of gers that made a…

аймаг

aimag

A word for tribe became a word for province.

айраг

airag

A drink fermented on horseback still names Mongolian…

дээл

deel

The Mongolian word for the long, wrapped robe worn by…

дзэрэн

dzeren

A steppe antelope entered English wearing its…

гэр

ger

The portable home that moved with empires and still…

Ilkhan

ilkhan

A title for one khan became the name of a whole…

хулан

khulan

A wild ass gave English one of its cleanest desert…

құрылтай

kurultai

An empire that rode horses across Eurasia governed…

Наадам

naadam

A Mongolian word meaning 'games' or 'festival' names…

ноён

noyon

An old Mongol title survived empire, translation, and…

курултай

qurultay

The word for the assembly that decided the fate of…

тарвага

tarbagan

An alpine marmot reached English carrying a Mongolian…

түмэн

tumen

The Mongols counted armies by ten thousand and made…

ulus

One steppe word could mean people, realm, and…

яса

yasa

The secret law code that unified an empire and…

Dharug16

bubuk

boobook

An owl named itself, and English was smart enough not…

budyari

budgeree

A colonial adjective for good began as an Aboriginal…

coolamon

A wooden bowl became an English word before many…

corella

A Sydney bird name flew into English and stayed white…

gurrawaŋ

currawong

An Australian bird entered English with its cry still…

din-go

dingo

The wild dog of Australia gave English its name from…

dunnart

A tiny marsupial kept an Aboriginal name because…

giba

gibber

The Dharug word for stone gave Australian English both…

gunyah

A house word entered English while the houses…

myall

A colonial insult began as an Aboriginal word for a…

nulla nulla

nulla-nulla

English kept an Aboriginal club word and dropped…

waddy

English kept the club and nearly forgot the hand that…

walaru

A mid-sized marsupial taught linguists to listen to a…

warada

waratah

A flower name outlived the colony that tried to rename…

warrigal

Australia gave English a word for wildness, then used…

wonga

A pigeon word became a money word on the wrong…

Sanskrit15

अहिंसा

ahiṃsā

The ancient vow of non-violence that shaped Gandhi and…

आश्रम

ashram

A forest hut became a global address for spiritual…

आयुर्वेद

āyurveda

The Sanskrit words for 'life-span' and 'knowledge'…

नाट्य

natya

The Sanskrit word for dramatic art — encompassing…

पिप्पली

pippalī

A Sanskrit word for the long pepper plant traveled…

राजा

rajah

A village title in India became a courtly English word…

रानी

rani

A queen's title in India traveled into English without…

संसार

saṃsāra

In Buddhist and Hindu thought, existence itself is the…

शक्ति

shakti

Power began as a goddess before it became an abstract…

शृङ्गवेर

śṛṅgavera

A word meaning 'horn-shaped' in Sanskrit — describing…

स्वराज

swaraj

Self-rule was first a moral demand, not a flag on a…

तन्त्र

tantra

The Sanskrit word for a loom became the name for texts…

तिलक

tilak

A tiny mark on the forehead carried a civilization's…

उपनिषद्

upanishad

One of India's grandest texts is named for sitting…

योग

yoga

A 5,000-year-old Sanskrit word for spiritual union…

Māori14

iwi

EE-wee

The Māori word for tribe — whose older meanings…

whakapapa

FAH-kah-pah-pah

The Māori word for genealogy literally means 'to place…

kaitiaki

kai-tee-AH-kee

The Māori guardian, trustee, or steward — a word whose…

kauri

KAW-ree

The giant conifer that defined New Zealand's early…

moa

An extinct bird kept its Māori name because no other…

moko

A face once became a document. The word for it still…

utu

OO-too

Widely mistranslated as 'revenge,' utu is actually the…

Pākehā

pakeha

A Māori outsider-term became a chosen identity label…

pōwhiri

PAW-fee-ree

The Māori welcoming ceremony — a formal protocol for…

tangi

TAHNG-ee

The Māori word for a funeral gathering — and for the…

taiaha

This weapon was also a grammar lesson delivered at…

taonga

A treasure can be land, a song, or a legal argument.

tikanga

tee-KAHNG-ah

The Māori word for custom, protocol, and the right way…

wharenui

A house can be a body, an ancestor, and a parliament.

Zulu13

imamba

The mamba is the fastest venomous snake in Africa —…

impala

The impala is the most abundant large antelope on the…

impi

An English war word came straight from the language of…

induna

A colonial administration borrowed its local word for…

isicathamiya

A style named for soft footsteps became one of…

khwela

A Zulu word meaning 'climb up' — shouted as a warning…

kwaito

Post-apartheid South Africa invented a beat and named…

lobola

A marriage word became famous abroad because outsiders…

imbube

mbube

A lion gave its name to a song the world nearly forgot.

umuthi

muti

A word for tree became a word for medicine, then a…

Nguni

nguni

Surprisingly, Nguni began as a people's name.

isangoma

sangoma

South Africa's healer is named with a word for skill,…

ubuntu

I am because we are.

Old Norse12

álfr

The Norse believed that elves stole healthy babies and…

bylǫg

bylog

Not from the English word 'by' meaning 'near,' but…

dalr

A word that the Vikings carved into the English…

egg

For centuries, the English language ran two words in…

haggva

From the Old Norse verb meaning 'to hew, to chop, to…

kjǫlr

The Norse word for a ship's spine — the long timber…

knífr

The word 'knife' carries a silent K that has not been…

skál

When Norse warriors raised a drinking bowl and cried…

steik

The word 'steak' is not a French culinary term or a…

swidden

Called primitive for centuries, it is now recognized…

vindauga

Before glass, a hole in the wall was simply an eye for…

þræll

A þræll was a slave in Old Norse society — a human…

Medieval Latin12

aequator

The line that divides the planet in half takes its…

biscoctus

The Romans baked their bread twice to drive out every…

cancellaria

Chancery italic — the slanted, flowing script that…

citrina

ki-TREE-na

The yellow quartz that was long passed off as topaz…

marinarius

The word for the person who works the sea is built on…

nux gatum

A Latin phrase meaning 'nut cake' traveled through…

nux muscata

Medieval Europeans ground a tropical seed and found…

pera

A word for a stone pillar supporting a bridge became…

pergamena

A city in Asia Minor gave its name to the writing…

planisphaerium

A planisphere is a sphere made flat — the impossible…

salvagium

A Latin word rooted in 'to save' — the act of rescuing…

spinella

spee-NEL-la

For five centuries, the most famous 'ruby' in the…

Afrikaans12

aardvark

A South African compound entered English natural…

aardwolf

The aardwolf is not a wolf. Its name insists that it…

apartheid

The Afrikaans word for 'separateness' named one of…

biltong

South Africa's dried meat tradition carries, in its…

kaross

A cloak of skins became a museum word for a vanished…

klipspringer

This antelope is named with two stones and a leap.

meerkat

Meerkat was first a monkey. The mongoose stole the…

rondavel

The circular thatched hut of southern Africa has no…

rooibos

An Afrikaans word meaning 'red bush' — a name so plain…

spoor

Trackers across southern Africa read the land like…

springbok

South Africa's national animal has a name built from…

stoep

The shaded ledge before a Cape farmhouse became the…

Scottish Gaelic11

cabar

The caber is the massive stripped tree trunk thrown…

càrn

A heap of stones stacked on a Scottish hilltop to mark…

claidheamh mòr

Scotland's most iconic weapon is named with…

clann

A Gaelic word for 'children' that reorganized how the…

clàrsach

clarsach

The old Scottish harp kept its Gaelic name after its…

coire

The cauldron-shaped hollows carved into Scottish…

loch

The Scottish word for a lake — with its guttural final…

plaide

plaid

The tartan-patterned fabric that now covers everything…

ptarmigan

A silent mountain bird was burdened with a fake Greek…

sporran

A purse on the front of a kilt is older than the kilt…

triubhas

The close-fitting tartan leg-coverings of the Scottish…

Korean11

아줌마

ajumma

A kinship title became a social force in modern cities.

아리랑

arirang

No one knows what the word means, but every Korean…

갈비

galbi

The ribs that built a global Korean barbecue empire.

김치

gimchi

Fermented cabbage became national identity—a word that…

고추장

gochujang

Korea met the chili pepper in the 1600s and within a…

한

han

A grief so old it became a people's defining emotion.

한

han

A grief so old it became a cultural inheritance

한지

hanji

Korean paper made from mulberry bark has survived a…

김밥

kimbap

One of Korea's most portable foods is named with…

만화

manhwa

The same two Chinese characters name comics in three…

택견

taekkyeon

One of Korea's oldest fighting arts moves like play…

Tibetan11

བླ་མ

bla-ma

The Tibetan title for a spiritual teacher carried in…

གཡའ་དྲེད

g.ya'-dred

The creature that Western mountaineers called the…

དགོན་པ

gompa

Gompa — 'solitary place' — names the Buddhist…

ཀ་ཏག

kha-btags

The white silk scarf presented at every significant…

མཆོད་རྟེན

mchod-rten

The white-domed monuments that mark sacred points…

རིན་པོ་ཆེ

rin-po-che

The Tibetan honorific meaning 'precious jewel' is…

རླུང་རྟ

rlung-rta

The Tibetan phrase meaning 'wind horse' names both the…

རྩམ་པ

rtsam-pa

The roasted barley flour that has sustained human life…

རྟ་གནའ

takin

A Himalayan bovine reached English from the mountains…

ཐང་ཀ

thangka

A thangka is a Tibetan painted scroll whose entire…

སྤྲུལ་སྐུ

tulku

A word that holds a soul's address across multiple…

Ottoman Turkish10

ağa

agha

In the Ottoman Empire, 'ağa' was a title that could…

bey

The word 'bey' was the Ottoman Empire's most elastic…

dolma

The Turkish verb for 'to stuff' gave its name to an…

efendi

Every time a European correspondent addressed a…

kayık

The slender, high-prowed rowing boats that darted…

odalık

The word that launched a thousand Orientalist…

عثمانی

ottoman

An empire's name ended up under your feet.

saray

The word 'seraglio' reached English by the most…

tercüman

The interpreter who stood between the Sultan's court…

vezir

The Grand Vizier was the most powerful man in the…

Hungarian10

cimbalom

A royal instrument took its English name from a…

csákó

The tall cylindrical military cap that defined the…

dolmány

The braided hussar jacket that became the most…

huszár

Light cavalry that galloped from Hungary across every…

kocsi

Every Uber, every sports mentor, every bus you've ever…

paprikás

paprikash

An adjective for peppery escaped the kitchen and…

tarhonya

These tiny pasta grains may remember Persian trade.

tokaji

Louis XIV called it 'the wine of kings, the king of…

verbunkos

An army recruitment dance became a national sound.

vizsla

The golden-rust hunting dog that aristocrats of the…

Thai10

ฝรั่ง

farang

Thailand calls guavas and Westerners by the same word.…

กระทง

grà-tong

Every November full moon, millions of Thais release a…

กะเทย

kathoey

A Thai word once meant intersex before modern cities…

ละคร

lakorn

A palace theatre word became the global label for Thai…

น้ำปลา

nám-plaa

Thailand's fish sauce is named with elegant simplicity…

สยาม

siam

A vanished state name still lives in cats, twins, and…

ส้มตำ

sôm-tam

Thailand's most beloved street food has a name that is…

ศรีราชา

sriracha

A coastal town became a global condiment before most…

ตะไคร้

takhrai

The herb that defines Thai cuisine has a Thai name no…

ไหว้

wâi

The pressed-palm greeting that travelers learn on…

Yiddish10

בייגל

beygl

The bagel's signature hole is not an accident of…

גנבֿ

ganef

The Yiddish word for a thief traces directly to the…

לאַטקע

latke

A Hanukkah pancake began as Greek oil.

נאַשן

nashn

To nosh is to nibble between meals — a word that…

פּאָץ

pots

A vulgar Yiddish word that crossed into English with…

רבי

rebbe

A Hebrew rabbi became a Yiddish rebbe and changed from…

שנאָרער

shnorer

The Yiddish word for a chronic moocher is not merely…

שטעטל

shtetl

A word that held an entire world, now a ghost of memory

יאָרצײַט

yahrzeit

A calendar word became a private architecture for…

שלאָב

zhlob

A Yiddish word for a coarse, awkward lout that arrived…

Ancient Egyptian10

ꜣbw

abu

The English word for elephant tusk may descend from…

hbnj

hebnij

Ebony — the densest, darkest wood in the world — was…

hbj

heby

The ibis — the long-billed wading bird of the Nile…

hotep

Strangely, this greeting began as an Egyptian word for…

iteru

The world's most famous river bears a name whose…

mer

The most recognizable structures on earth may have…

mesdemet

Long before cosmetics became a beauty industry,…

nṯr.y

netjery

Natron — the salt that preserved the pharaohs' bodies…

qmꜣ.t

qemat

The sticky resin that Egyptians harvested from acacia…

𓋹

ꜥnḫ

The ankh — the cross with a loop at the top — was the…

Tupi9

ipekaaguéne

Ipecac is the root of a small Brazilian forest plant…

jabuticaba

A Brazilian fruit tree keeps a Tupi name the colonists…

ka'apiûara

The world's largest rodent — the size of a Labrador…

piaçaba

piassava

A broom fiber named itself. Europe imported the…

pira sainha

pirá sainha

The fish that bites — named in Amazonian Tupi for its…

çariama

seriema

The screaming grassland bird kept its Tupi name after…

taíra

tayra

A rainforest hunter kept its Indigenous name while…

tipi'óka

Tapioca is the starchy residue of the cassava root —…

tukana

The toucan takes its name from the sound it makes —…

Amharic9

በርበሬ

BER-ber-AY

Ethiopia's master spice blend takes its name from an…

ቡና

BUN-nah

The Amharic word for coffee is almost certainly where…

ዕንሥጥ

ənset

Scientists have called it 'the tree against hunger' —…

ጌሾ

gešo

Every batch of tej — Ethiopia's ancient honey wine —…

ክትፎ

KIT-fo

Ethiopia's answer to steak tartare is seasoned with…

ንጥር ቅቤ

nit'ir qibé

Ethiopia's spiced clarified butter is the foundation…

ሽሮ

SHEE-ro

The Amharic word for a humble chickpea stew has…

ጤፍ

ṭeff

The world's smallest grain fed an empire for three…

ጠጅ

TEJJ

Ethiopia's ancient honey wine has been brewed in the…

Vietnamese

bánh mì

BAN mee

The Vietnamese word for bread is also the word for the…

bánh cuốn

banh cuon

A sheet of steamed rice batter, translucent as morning…

bộ đội

BOH dwee

The Vietnamese term for soldier — used to name the…

đồng

DAWNG

The name of Vietnam's currency is the same word as the…

nón lá

NAWN lah

The conical palm-leaf hat of Vietnam is named for…

nem

NEM

The same three-letter word names a fermented pork…

nước mắm

NOOK mahm

The fermented fish sauce that defines Vietnamese…

áo dài

OW die

Vietnam's national costume is named for something…

Welsh8

corgi

A 'dwarf dog' from Wales conquered Buckingham Palace —…

cwm

This three-letter word without a single conventional…

cwrwgl

The coracle is one of the oldest watercraft designs in…

eisteddfod

eye-STETH-vod

Wales has kept its poets in competition for over five…

gwlanen

One of the few Welsh words to conquer the world—a…

hiraeth

heer-eyeth

Hiraeth is routinely described as untranslatable — a…

cromlech

KROM-lek

The Neolithic chambered tombs of Britain and Brittany…

tad

TAD

The most ordinary word a child speaks for its father…

Yoruba8

àdìrẹ

adire

A cloth word remembers the hand that tied the dye into…

àgbàdá

agbada

A robe can be architecture with sleeves.

agogo

A bell word from Yorubaland now keeps time for half…

àkàrà

akara

A street fritter crossed an ocean and kept frying.

aṣẹ

ashe

A single Yoruba syllable became prayer, verdict, and…

egusi

A soup is named for the seed, not the bowl.

Ifá

Ifa

Ifá is simultaneously a deity, a divination system, a…

òrìṣà

orisha

A sacred Yoruba word crossed the Atlantic and refused…

Basque8

bertsolari

A Basque oral poet who improvises sung verse in public…

Euskara

Linguists have spent two centuries searching for…

galdegaia

Unexpectedly, galdegaia is a modern Basque compound.

jai alai

A Basque festival game whose name means 'merry…

lauburu

Basque for 'four heads,' the lauburu is an ancient…

pintxo

The Basque word for the small-plate tradition that…

sorgin

The Basque sorgin — usually translated as 'witch' —…

txakoli

A tart, slightly sparkling white wine produced only in…

Middle Dutch8

būsen

The Dutch verb for drinking to excess sailed across…

dek

Dutch sailors called the covering planks that roofed…

loteren

The Dutch word for shaking loosely, being unsteady,…

luc

The concept that defines gambling, superstition, and…

pekel

The Dutch word for a salty brine gave English its word…

pompe

A word that may have started as the sound of water…

snacken

A sharp bite, a snap of the jaw — Dutch sailors and…

stoof

Before it was something you cooked on, 'stove' was a…

Inuktitut7

ᐃᒡᓗ

iglu

The Inuit word for 'house' was narrowed by English…

inuksuk

The stone figure that acts as a human surrogate on the…

kamik

The traditional skin boot of the eastern Arctic Inuit…

piblokto

pibloktoq

A mysterious condition observed in Arctic communities…

qamutiik

The Inuit dogsled — a platform of bone and driftwood…

ᕿᒻᒥᖅ

qimmiq

The Inuktitut word for dog — the original Canadian…

qulliq

The shallow stone lamp that burned seal oil and heated…

Romani7

baro

The Romani word for 'big' or 'great' traveled from…

chal

The Romani word for a young man — chal — carries…

chiv

chiv / chivomengro

The prison slang for a makeshift knife is one of…

gorgio

gorgio / gadjo

The Romani word for a non-Romani person—the settled…

hotchiwitchi

The hedgehog has a name in Romani — hotchiwitchi —…

Rom

The name that an entire people gave themselves simply…

stariben

stariben / sturiben

The British slang for prison—as in 'stir-crazy'—is…

Malayalam7

അപ്പം

appam

A simple word for bread became dozens of South Indian…

കേരളം

Kerala

Emperor Ashoka carved the name 'Keralaputra' into…

കൊപ്പര

koppara

The dried heart of the coconut — and the word that…

Malabar

malabar

A coastline became an adjective, a spice brand, and…

പായസം

payasam

A dessert word began as a Sanskrit word for milk, not…

tekka

The wood that built the British Empire came with its…

തോരൻ

thoran

A humble coconut stir-fry carries a very old Dravidian…

Hawaiian7

ʻōlelo

'olelo

A Hawaiian word meaning 'language' or 'speech' — the…

ʻukulele

'ukulele

Portuguese sailors brought the instrument—Hawaiians…

kahuna

Long before surfers slang-ified it, a kahuna was a…

kapa

Before Western cloth arrived, the entire Hawaiian…

muʻumuʻu

muumuu

The muumuu was not a Hawaiian invention — it was a…

poke

The global bowl began as a verb for cutting.

pono

A Hawaiian word meaning righteousness, balance,…

Javanese

ꦒꦩꦺꦭꦤ꧀

gamelan

Gamelan is the name for the bronze percussion…

kendang

A drum gave Java one of its most ceremonial words.

kris

keris / kris

The keris is a Javanese asymmetric dagger whose wavy…

lahar

Lahar is a Javanese word for the volcanic mudflows…

saron

One of Java's clearest metal voices has a name as old…

wayang

Before cinema, before television, there was a leather…

Irish Gaelic6

bróg

The word for a type of shoe became the word for an…

eiscir

A gravel ridge formed under a glacier gave Irish…

poitín

The world's most dangerous spirits have the most…

sail éille

A walking stick from one Irish village became the…

sionnachuighim

Every mischievous trick, every playful deception in…

smidirín

Blown to tiny pieces — the Irish diminutive that…

Brazilian Portuguese

cachaça

cachaca

Brazil's national spirit began as a rough byproduct…

cafuné

cafune

Brazilian Portuguese has a dedicated word for the act…

caipirinha

Brazil's national cocktail is named after the…

caracara

This raptor is named by imitation. The bird cried…

feijoada

Brazil's national dish began as slave food — the parts…

Maori

aroha

The deepest word in Maori for love contains, at its…

haka

The haka is not a war dance — it is a declaration, a…

hāngi

hangi

The Maori earth oven — stones heated in fire, food…

pounamu

The Maori word for New Zealand nephrite jade names a…

tuatara

The tuatara has been called a living fossil — but the…

Modern Latin, named for a person

begonia

bih-GOH-nee-ə

A flower named not for its appearance, its scent, or…

feijoa

A South American fruit is named for a Portuguese…

forsythia

for-SY-thee-ə

Every March, millions of suburban gardens briefly turn…

gardenia

gar-DEE-nee-ə

A flower named for a physician who never saw it bloom…

zinnia

ZIN-ee-ə

A wildflower from the Mexican plateau, named for a…

Irish5

bogach

Bog is an Irish word for the soft, waterlogged ground…

craic

Craic names the irreducible Irish quality of lively,…

geis

gesh

A geis was a magical prohibition or obligation laid…

síbín

shebeen

An illegal pub word from Ireland became township…

tory

A hunted outlaw gave Britain one of its grandest…

Mandarin Chinese5

胡同

hutong

A street word likely rode in with empire and stayed…

ketou

The deepest bow of the Chinese court—forehead touching…

面子

Miànzi

Mianzi — social face, the public prestige that can be…

南京

Nánjīng

A naturally yellow cotton cloth that carried an…

衙門

yamen

An English word for bureaucracy began as a gate.

Hebrew5

אָמֵן

āmēn

Three letters — Aleph, Mem, Nun — meaning 'firm,…

kibbutz

Jewish pioneers gathered in communal farms to build a…

סֶלָה

selah

It appears seventy-one times in the Psalms and three…

שִׁבֹּלֶת

shibbolet

A Hebrew word for a grain stalk became history's most…

יוֹבֵל

yovel

Every fiftieth year, the ancient Israelites were…

Hindi from Sanskrit

चिट्ठी

ciṭṭhī

Chit — a short note, a signed voucher, a brief written…

देखो

dekho

Dekko — British slang for 'a look' or 'a glance' — is…

पाँच

pāñc

The drink named for 'five' ingredients became a party…

पापड़

pāpaṛ

The thin crispy wafer that starts every Indian meal —…

Cantonese Chinese

大班

daai baan (Cantonese) / dà bān (Mandarin)

In 19th-century Canton, the Cantonese called the…

行

hong

A single Chinese syllable once ran the foreign trade…

龍眼

lung ngaan (Cantonese) / lóng yǎn (Mandarin)

The dragon's eye: peel back the thin shell and a…

堂

tong

A word for a hall became a word for a gang.

English from Swahili (Bantu)

kanga

KAH-ngah

A rectangle of printed cotton that East African women…

mzungu

mm-ZUNG-oo

The Swahili word for 'wanderer' became the word for…

pole pole

POH-lay POH-lay

The two most important words on Mount Kilimanjaro are…

shamba

SHAHM-bah

The Swahili word for a small farm or garden holds…

Hindi / Sanskrit

धोती

dhoti

The cloth that Gandhi chose over the suit was not…

घी

ghī (Hindi) / ghṛta (Sanskrit)

Clarified butter distilled to its essence — the…

कथक

kathak

From the Sanskrit katha, meaning 'story' — a North…

साड़ी

sari

A single unstitched length of cloth -- no needle, no…

Kimbundu

makumba

macumba

A ritual term crossed the Atlantic and became both…

milonga

A Bantu word crossed the Atlantic and helped teach…

kilombo

quilombo

A war camp word became the name of freedom settlements.

semba

A Kimbundu word for the navel-bump — the moment when…

Dharug (Australian Aboriginal)

corroboree

The English settlers who watched with bewilderment…

wallaby

A word that names dozens of distinct species, used by…

wombat

A burrowing marsupial so anatomically extreme — with a…

woomera

A spear-throwing device that multiplied human arm…

Telugu4

దాల్

dal

Split lentils that form the backbone of South Asian…

gallu

Strangely enough, gallu began as a word for stone.

முங்கூஸ்

muṅkūs

The small, quick, fearless serpent-killer — and the…

పందికొక్కు

pandikokku

How a Telugu pig-rat crossed oceans and lent its name…

Hindi/Sanskrit4

चीता

cītā

The fastest land animal on Earth has a Sanskrit name…

जंगल

jangal

In Hindi it meant dry wasteland. English made it mean…

करोड़

karod

Ten million needed a name. India gave it one that…

लाख

lākh

A word for "hundred thousand" became the marker of…

English from Taíno

kasabi

cassava

The Taíno's staple root crop now feeds 800 million…

iwana

iguana

The Taíno name for their largest lizard became the…

mahiz

maize

The Taíno word for the Americas' most important crop…

sabana

savannah

The Taíno word for their treeless plains became the…

Polish4

hetman

A German captain crossed Slavic frontiers and became a…

mazurek

A peasant dance from Mazovia — Poland's broad central…

pierogi

Pierogi — Poland's filled dumplings — carry a name…

złoty

zloty

Poland's money is simply called the golden one.

Kikongo4

goombay

A Caribbean drum word still carries the Atlantic…

likembe

A thumb piano is named like a noun class lesson.

lu-fuki

Funk began as a Kikongo word for the smell of honest…

tota

An enslaved people's word for carrying became the name…

Spanish from Latin

cabana

From medieval huts to poolside luxury — the humble…

ejido

After a revolution that cost a million lives, Mexico…

hacienda

A word for "things to be done" became the name for an…

pueblo

Spanish colonizers used one word — pueblo, people —…

Middle English4

borel

The humblest of fabrics, whose name may trace back to…

cup + board

cup-bord

A cupboard was literally a cup-board — an open shelf…

gun wale

A word that preserves in its spelling the age when…

naughty

nauhti

To be naughty once meant to have naught — nothing, no…

English from Latin

incunabula

Books printed before 1501 have their own collective…

compositor

kəm-POZ-ih-tər

The craftsman who set type by hand — picking…

trident

TRY-dent

Three teeth — the weapon of the sea god became the…

Mexican Spanish3

mariachi

A word of disputed origin — possibly from a French…

sopes

A soaked thing became a griddled rim of corn and…

taco

Nobody knows exactly where 'taco' came from — and…

Dharug (Aboriginal Australian)

cooee

The long, rising call used to attract attention across…

koala

The marsupial that sleeps twenty hours a day and…

kurrajong

The fibrous-barked tree whose inner bark was twisted…

English from French

farrier

The person who shoes a horse carries a title whose…

orangerie

The orangery — that long glass-fronted room on the…

Robin

robin

A bird named after a man named Robert — and how a…

Kannada3

ಇಡ್ಲಿ

idli

One of India's softest foods has a hard medieval paper…

ಕೊಡಗು

koḍagu

A Kannada word for a region became the name for a…

ರಾಗಿ

ragi

A millet name survived modernization while many old…

Middle Dutch / Low German

docke

A word borrowed from Dutch harbor workers — possibly…

knack

A sharp crack, a snap of the fingers, a click of…

smelt

The word for extracting metal from ore by fire — and…

Spanish (from Latin)

caldera

A caldera is the vast circular depression left after a…

fiesta

The Latin word for a religious holiday became the…

lazo

A Roman snare became a cowboy's signature tool — and…

Latin (from Greek)

garum

The Roman Empire ran on a fermented fish sauce so…

hōra

hora

An hour was never sixty minutes in the ancient world —…

pantomimus

Pantomime comes from the Greek for 'imitating…

Nyungar (Aboriginal Australian)

jarrah

The towering hardwood tree whose timber built colonial…

karri

The third-tallest tree species on Earth — a…

quokka

The small, smiling marsupial of Rottnest Island — the…

Akkadian3

kharrūbu

khar-ROO-boo

The pod that health food shops sell as a chocolate…

𒅗𒊭𒋾

kunuk

The cylinder seal was the signature of ancient…

saqqu

SAK-koo

The humble cloth bag — carried to markets, filled with…

Hindi (from Sanskrit)

धोबी

dhobī (Hindi)

The washerman who kept the British Empire in clean…

खिचड़ी

khicṛī (Hindi) / khichdi

The simple Indian comfort food of rice and lentils…

महावत

mahāvat (Hindi) / mahāmātra (Sanskrit)

The elephant trainer who could redirect a…

Italian (from Latin)

cupola

A little cup turned upside down became the crown of…

diva

Diva is the Italian word for a goddess — it was…

rotunda

A rotunda is a circular building or room covered by a…

Latin from Greek

hypocaustum

hypocaust

Two thousand years before underfloor heating became a…

topiarius

The art of clipping living plants into geometric…

triclinium

Romans did not sit at dinner — they reclined. The…

English from Arabic

خات

khat

East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula have chewed this…

موسم

mawsim

Arab sailors named the seasons of wind. The word…

shroff

A banker's title crossed empires and came back…

Chinese (Mandarin)3

茶

chá

One plant, one Chinese character, two pronunciations —…

人蔘

rénshēn

A root shaped like a human body became Asia's most…

上海

Shànghǎi

When English speakers say someone has been…

Guaraní

akuti

agouti

One of South America's commonest rodents reached…

coatí

coati

This animal is named for its nose, not its tail.

jabiru

A giant stork in South America gave Europe one of its…

Arabic via Spanish

القبة

al-qubba

The cozy reading nook in your apartment is named after…

الطوب

aṭ-ṭūb

Sun-dried mud bricks that built civilizations — and…

Šereš / Xérès

Sheresh / Jerez

Sherry—the fortified wine of southern Spain—is simply…

Georgian3

ჩურჩხელა

churchkhela

Georgian warriors carried these candle-shaped strings…

მწვადი

mtsvadi

Georgia's answer to the shish kebab predates the…

საწივი

satsivi

Georgia's signature cold walnut sauce transforms a…

Yuwaalaraay3

bilby

Australia's Easter challenger is named in a language…

gulabaa

coolabah

The tree under which Banjo Paterson's swagman camped…

malga

mulga

The Aboriginal name for a tough inland acacia became…

Tupi-Guaraní

jaguara

"The beast that kills in one leap"—South America's…

paka'rana

pacarana

This giant rodent is named as a counterfeit of another…

yacarandá

Jacaranda is a tree that turns streets violet for…

Taíno3

caimán

caiman

Europe learned this reptile's name from the Caribbean…

cay

A tiny island gave English one of its shortest travel…

hurakán

The god of storms from the Caribbean gave his name to…

Punjabi3

ਭੰਗੜਾ

bhaṅgṛā

A harvest dance from the wheat fields of Punjab became…

ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ

gurduārā

A Punjabi word for "gateway to the guru" became the…

ਲੱਸੀ

lassi

The ancient churned-yogurt drink of the Punjab —…

Turkic

буран

buran

The same steppe storm named a Soviet space shuttle.

кымыз

qımız

Fermented mare's milk, the drink that sustained…

шашлык

shashlyk

One skewer dish kept two spellings and doubled its…

Portuguese / Spanish

brisa

The word for a gentle wind came to English through…

caramelo

A word that may trace back to Latin for a small reed…

casta

A Portuguese word for racial purity of breeding gave…

English from Hindi (place name)

देवली

Deolālī

Doolally — meaning slightly mad or eccentric — comes…

जोधपुर

Jodhpur

Jodhpurs — close-fitting riding breeches flared at the…

Romani-influenced English

dukkering

Fortune-telling has many names, but dukkering — the…

mush

British English has been quietly using a Romani word…

English from Dutch

koekje

A Dutch "little cake" became America's favorite…

serif

SEHR-if

The tiny finishing strokes at the ends of letterforms…

Amharic / Ge'ez

ሐበሻ

habesha

The word that gave 'Abyssinia' to European maps…

መስቀል

MES-kel

The Ethiopian festival of the True Cross is named from…

Spanish from Quechua

charango

The small Andean lute was built on the shell of an…

vizcacha

A mountain rodent carries an Andean name through a…

Wemba Wemba2

mallee

A whole Australian landscape is named after a tree…

mia-mia

A temporary shelter outlived the camps that first…

Italian (Venetian)

ducato

The most trusted coin in medieval Europe was named not…

laguna

Venice gave the world a word for the shallow waters…

Northern Sami2

luohti

An ancient Sami singing tradition that turns…

siida

A government once began as a winter camp.

Hindi/Marathi

डुंगरी

Dungri

A coarse cloth named for a neighborhood in Bombay —…

ठग

ṭhag

A religious cult of highway murderers gave English its…

Turkish / Persian

ferman

A Persian word meaning 'command' -- the Sultan's…

sipahi

A Persian word for a mounted soldier -- one who serves…

Thai from Sanskrit

บาท

bàat

Thailand's currency takes its name from an ancient…

สตางค์

sà-taang

Thailand's smallest denomination — one hundredth of a…

Arabic/Persian

غزل

ghazal

The most intimate form in Persian poetry — fourteen…

مثنوی

masnavī

The Persian verse form built for long stories used…

Norwegian2

flo

From the Norwegian word for a flat layer or slab, the…

slalaam

Norwegian farmers racing downhill between obstacles…

Ukrainian2

борщ

borshch

A humble beet soup became a battlefield—its name now…

борщ

borshch

A beet soup became the most politically charged bowl…

Bantu2

ngoma

A single Bantu word meaning drum, music, dance, and…

nyama

The Bantu word for meat, game, and animal — nyama — is…

Brazilian Portuguese from Tupi

açaí

acai

The Amazonian palm berry that fueled indigenous…

carioca

Carioca means someone from Rio de Janeiro — and it…

Taíno via Spanish

barbacoa

The wooden frame for cooking meat became a global…

hamaca

Columbus found the Taíno sleeping in hanging nets —…

Chinese

包

bao

A verb meaning "to wrap" became a global street-food…

絲

sī

A Chinese word for the thread drawn from a silkworm's…

Hindi/Urdu from Persian

जिमखाना

jimkhānā

Gymkhana — now meaning a horse-riding competition or a…

पायजामा

pāyjāmā

The British went to India, saw comfortable trousers,…

Khoikhoi

ǃnù

gnu

English kept the click out and the animal stayed…

kudu

Europe kept the antelope and the local name, then…

Ojibwe (Algonquian)

manidoo

Manitou names the animating spiritual power that…

wīgiwām

Wigwam entered English from the Ojibwe word for 'their…

Late Latin2

catechist

Curiously, catechist is the teacher built from the…

compāniō

Your companion is literally someone you share bread…

Taino/Arawak

papaya

Caribbean islanders named this fruit before Columbus…

tabaco

tabako

The Taino offered sacred leaves to their gods—and…

Powhatan (Algonquian)

apassem

Opossum is the first marsupial that European science…

pawcohiccora

Hickory is the only major English tree name derived…

Bambara2

jembe

A Bambara phrase meaning 'everyone gather together in…

shea

A butter tree reached English by way of a…

English (uncertain origin)

bungy

The elastic cord that lets you fall from bridges may…

ketch

The two-masted sailing vessel that became the workboat…

Narragansett (Algonquian)

askutasquash

Squash — the vegetable — preserves most of the…

msíckquatash

Succotash preserves a Narragansett word for…

Powhatan Algonquian (Virginia)

hominy

The swollen white corn kernels eaten across the…

pone

The dense, unleavened cornbread eaten across the…

Arabic / Urdu

محفل

mehfil

An Arabic word for a circle — a place where people…

مشاعرہ

mushaira

An Arabic word meaning a mutual exchange of poetry — a…

English (personal name)

mackintosh

The waterproof raincoat is named after a Scottish…

Wellington boot

The waterproof rubber boot worn across muddy fields…

English (surname)

Davenport

The word davenport describes two completely different…

sandwich

The most eaten hand-held food in the world carries the…

Vietnamese (from French)

cà phê

KAH feh

The Vietnamese word for coffee is a direct…

xích lô

SIK loh

The three-wheeled pedal rickshaw of Vietnam carries a…

Spanish/Portuguese

embargo

A word for seizing ships became the weapon of…

mosquito

The deadliest animal on earth has a name that means…

Lao2

ບາສີ

baci

A ceremony became a word. The word still tries to call…

ແຄນ

khaen

A bamboo mouth organ crossed borders more easily than…

Spanish (diminutive)

machete

The 'little mallet' that became the essential tool —…

tortilla

The 'little cake' that built civilizations — and…

Wiradjuri2

gang-gang

The bird stuttered once and English decided that was…

quandong

Australia's bright desert peach carries a name older…

English from Hindi

बांधना

bāndhnā

The Hindi word for 'to tie' became a piece of cloth…

shampoo

An Indian head massage became a bottle of chemicals.

Wolof2

hipi

A Wolof word meaning to open one's eyes — to see…

Jolof

jollof

A kingdom became dinner and started arguments.

Spanish from Taíno

cacique

Columbus borrowed a Caribbean title and Spain never…

maguey

A Caribbean plant name crossed the sea, then renamed…

Swahili (from Arabic)

imani

Imani means faith in Swahili, but the word's Arabic…

kanzu

The kanzu is a long white robe worn by Muslim men…

Greek (modern coinage)

δεινόσαυρος

deinósauros

Richard Owen needed a name for the terrible,…

φωτογραφία

phōtographía

The word means 'light writing' — and the earliest…

Yagara

bung

Australian English learned broken from an Aboriginal…

umpee

humpy

The Indigenous Australian word for a temporary shelter…

Babylonian (Akkadian)

𒄩𒄠𒈬𒊏𒁉

Hammurabi

Hammurabi was a Babylonian king who reigned from 1792…

𒀭𒀫𒌓

Marduk

Marduk rose from a minor deity of a small city to…

Low German / Dutch

knappen + zak

The knapsack is literally a 'snap-sack' — a bag for…

smokkelen

The word for moving goods secretly through customs…

Bengali2

ভদ্রলোক

bhadralok

A word for "gentlefolk" became the name for a class…

জুট

juṭ

A Bengali word for "twisted" became the name of the…

Hindi/Urdu from Sanskrit

डाकू

ḍākū

Dacoit — from Hindi ḍākū, an armed robber who operates…

वाला

vālā

Wallah — the person who does a thing, the one in…

Malagasy

raffia

A palm-fiber name from Madagascar now wraps gifts…

tanreky

tenrec

A Madagascar insect-eater reached English by losing…

Ojibwe2

kinkajou

A wolverine's old name was stolen by a rainforest…

odoodem

The sacred kinship symbol that became the world's word…

Sanskrit/Hindi

पण्डित

paṇḍit

The Sanskrit word for 'learned one' became English's…

रुपया

rupayā

The coin that financed the British Empire in South…

Italian via French

balaustrata

The elegant railing along grand staircases takes its…

facciata

The front of a building shares its root with the human…

French (from Latin)

armoire

The tall wardrobe that holds clothing was originally…

ponton

A pontoon is a floating bridge that armies have been…

Hawaiian / Proto-Polynesian

moana

A word shared across every Polynesian language meaning…

nui

A word meaning 'great' or 'large' that spans every…

Malayalam / Tamil

சக்காய்

cakkāy

The world's largest tree-borne fruit — and its English…

காயர்

kāyar

The rope that kept spice ships from sinking and now…

Australian Aboriginal

willy-willy

A dust devil learned to whirl in English twice.

yabi

yabby

A creek crayfish gave Australian English one of its…

Taino

batata

One Caribbean word for sweet potato became the name…

çauana

The indigenous Taino people of the Caribbean gave the…

Noongar2

kylie

A curved stick from Western Australia gave English a…

quenda

One Aboriginal name survived because settlers needed a…

English from Quechua

ch'arki

charki

The Inca dried llama meat for their armies — and their…

kinwa

quinoa

The Inca's 'mother grain' was nearly forgotten — then…

Classical Chinese2

命

mìng

The Chinese character that means both 'fate' and…

五行

Wǔxíng

Wuxing — the Five Phases or Five Movements — is the…

Old French from Latin

corvée

For most of human history, the landlord did not need…

dormeor

The window that projects from a sloped roof is named…

French zoological usage from an African source

galago

A night primate kept its African name and slipped…

turaco

A forest bird in Africa gave Europe a word before…

Tupi (via Portuguese)

kyinha

The fiery pepper that transformed global cuisine…

macavuana

The brilliant parrots whose feathers once served as…

Hokkien Chinese

ketchup

kê-tsiap

Fish sauce from Fujian became America's favorite…

烏龍

wū lóng (Mandarin) / ū-liông (Hokkien)

A black dragon coils inside your teacup — the name for…

Romani (from Sanskrit)

chavo

chavo / chavi

The most contentious word in British class…

kosh

kosh / koshter

The British slang for a bludgeon—the weapon of…

Urdu

انقلاب

inqilab

A word for overturning planets became a cry for…

शिकारा

shikara

A hunting word became a boat. Kashmir kept the irony…

Nahuatl (Aztec)

āhuacatl

ahuacatl

Named for what it looks like—and yes, that means what…

tomatl

Europeans were convinced it was poison—now it's the…

Breton2

taol maen

dolmen

The stone table — two or more massive upright slabs…

men hir

A menhir is simply a long stone — men hir in Breton —…

Modern Latin from Greek

azalea

ə-ZAY-lee-ə

Botanists named this flowering shrub for dryness —…

Aymara

siku

The Andes made harmony from two incomplete instruments.

Portuguese/Spanish

anchova

This tiny fish has been currency, condiment, and…

Italian (from a Roman noble family name)

frangipani

Frangipani — the intensely fragrant tropical flower…

Romani (from Sanskrit/Hindi)

nāk

The English slang word for a police informer comes…

English from French, from Italian

Arlecchino

harlequin

Harlequin — the masked, diamond-patched trickster of…

Filipino Spanish / Tagalog

bolo

BOH-lo

The heavy single-edged blade of the Philippine…

English from Latin from Proto-Indo-European

oraculum

oracle

The Latin word for 'divine utterance' comes from…

Bantu (Kongo)

kivili-chimpenze

A word from a Bantu language of Central Africa —…

Persian via Hindi/Urdu

زنانه

zanāna

The women's quarters of South Asian households — named…

English from French, possibly from Spanish or Arabic

fanfare

A fanfare is a trumpet flourish that says: pay…

Jamaican English1

reggae

A slang word for ragged clothes became the name of…

African American English (from Wolof)

jive

Jive began as a Harlem word for deceptive talk — and…

Amharic / Tigrinya

ዘቡ

zebu

Every hump-shouldered cattle breed from Rajasthan to…

Chinook Jargon (from Native American sources)

wapato

A wetland tuber named a place before maps named the…

French (surname)

Nicot

The addictive alkaloid in tobacco carries the name of…

Old French via medieval Latin via Byzantine Greek

samite

The 'mystic samite' of Arthurian legend -- the cloth…

Gaulish via Latin

carrus

The Gaulish war-cart that terrified Julius Caesar's…

Old Persian

خشتراپاون

xšaçapāvan

Old Persian xšaçapāvan meant 'protector of the realm'…

Abenaki

sôgemak

sagamore

Colonial English borrowed a title, then used it like a…

English naval slang

grog

The word for a watered-down alcoholic drink—and by…

Persian (via Old French)

پرّه‌کت

parrah-kat

A small parrot whose name likely descends from a…

Latin (from Germanic tribal name)

Vandalī

Vandali

A Germanic people sacked Rome for two weeks — and…

Noongar (Australian Aboriginal)

numbat

The only marsupial that feeds exclusively on termites…

English (from Hindi/Persian)

seersucker

The puckered striped cloth that became the uniform of…

Chinese (Hokkien/Cantonese)

白毫

pe̍h-hō

The tea grade name 'pekoe' — which appears on millions…

Low German / Scandinavian

oegla

ögla

From a Low German or Scandinavian word related to…

English (acronym)

RADAR

A wartime acronym for detecting invisible aircraft by…

English from Arabic/Persian/Sanskrit

ليمون

laymūn

A fruit traveled from India to Persia to Arabia to…

English from Medieval Latin

oleander

OH-lee-an-der

One of the most poisonous plants in the world, it…

Russian / Caucasian

лезгинка

lezginka

Named for the Lezgin people of the Caucasus Mountains…

Old English (from Proto-Germanic)

book

The word for the bound volume that reshaped…

Spanish/Portuguese from Provençal/Germanic

flamenco

The bird, the dance, and the Flemish people all share…

Cantonese/Portuguese

阿媽

amah

The word for mother became the word for servant—a…

French/West African

joujou

A word that may derive from French joujou (toy) or…

English from Middle French from Latin

font

FONT

Every time you choose a typeface on a screen, you are…

Chinese Pidgin English

pidgin

The word for a simplified contact language between…

Spanish (Dominican)

merengue

meh-RENG-gay

The Dominican Republic's national dance shares its…

Ukrainian/Turkic

козак

kozak

Cossack names the free horsemen of the Ukrainian and…

Kikongo / Kimbundu

nguba

A Bantu word for peanut survived the Middle Passage,…

Spanish from a Philippine place name

capiz

A shell became a material, then a material became a…

Malayalam (from Calicut)

കാലിക്കോ

kālikko

The Indian port city whose name dressed the world.

Old French (from Medieval Latin)

acquiter

An acquittal — from the Old French for 'to discharge a…

Middle Low German / Dutch

boegspriet

The pole that juts from a ship's bow like an…

Dutch (place name)

Gouda

gouda

A Dutch city famous for its cheese market has given…

Tswana (Setswana)

tsètsè

The tsetse fly has a name that means simply 'fly' in…

Modern Latin

catechu

A village extract from India reentered English wearing…

Ottoman Turkish / Persian

bahşiş

The word a traveler hears most insistently across the…

Ancient Egyptian (via Latin)

ꜣmn

AH-men

The pungent gas that smells of cleaning fluid and…

Pali / Sanskrit

སྟུ་པ

stupa

The stupa is a mound of earth over relics that became…

Portuguese (from West African)

inhame

A staple food of West Africa reached European tables…

Chinook Jargon / English

chinook

shi-NOOK

A warm wind that can raise temperatures by 20°C in an…

French (possibly Frankish)

guêtre

The protective ankle and leg coverings worn by…

Welsh English

Cardigan

An earl who led a catastrophic cavalry charge into…

Greek (from Carian name)

Μαυσωλεῖον

Mausōleion

A grief-stricken queen built her husband's tomb so…

Choctaw

bayuk

A Choctaw word for a slow-moving creek became the soul…

Algonquian (via Spanish)

sassafras

A tree whose root bark once flavored an entire…

French from Latin

terrasse

The word for a raised outdoor platform comes from the…

American English (disputed African origin)

jazz

The most American word might be African—and nobody…

Kongo/Spanish

bongo

Twin drums from Cuba carry an African heartbeat—their…

Nenets (via Russian)

парка

parka

An Inuit and Yupik word for a hooded animal-skin…

English from Spanish or French

rapier

RAY-pee-ər

The thrusting sword that redefined honor, masculinity,…

English from Tamil via French

vettiver

vetiver

A grass root so tenacious it holds riverbanks together…

Medieval Italian

mala aria

Bad air — the wrong theory that accidentally gave the…

Sicilian/Italian

omertà

The Mafia's code of silence — a word that forbids its…

Dhudhuroa1

bogong

A moth fed the mountains, and its name entered English.

Thai from Pali/Sanskrit

วัด

wát

The Thai temple complex that anchors every village in…

Anglo-Indian English (from British slang, adopted into Hindi)

टिफ़िन

ṭifin (Hindi, borrowed back from English)

An old English slang word for a light snack traveled…

Purépecha1

huarache

A sandal gave its name to a street food shaped like a…

Cantonese1

長衫

chèuhngsāam

The form-fitting silk dress that Western fashion…

English from Afrikaans

wildebeest

WIL-duh-beest

Dutch settlers arriving in southern Africa named this…

Romani (via Persian)

kushto

kushto / kushti

The British slang word for 'great' or 'excellent'—made…

Fon/Ewe (West African)

vodun

A sacred religion became a slur—then began reclaiming…

English dialectal

troll

A word that may have meant to roll or to stroll was…

Spanish via West African languages

kalebas

The gourd that carried water, music, and stories…

Maguindanaon

kulintang

A row of gongs gave an island world one of its great…

Irish (place name)

Donnybrook

The English word for a wild, chaotic brawl takes its…

Greek (from Hebrew qanna'im)

ζηλωτής

zelotes

Jewish resistance fighters who chose death over Roman…

Mandinka (West African)

Maamajomboo

A sacred ritual became an insult—the story of how…

Spanish (quince + años + -era)

quinceañera

The celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday as a…

English (possibly from Wolof)

twerk

An ancient dance move emerged from West African…

Chinese (Mandarin chá / Hokkien te)

茶

chá / te

The most consumed beverage on Earth after water owes…

Igbo

ọgbanje

ogbanje

A dead child kept returning, and language built a name…

Narragansett Algonquian (New England)

sachem

The word for a paramount chief of the Algonquian…

Italian from Latin

filigrana

The word for delicate metalwork literally means…

English (from Madras, India)

madras

MAD-rəs

A lightweight cotton fabric of bright plaid and check…

Wolof via French

boubou

The grandest everyday garment in West Africa is a…

English from Old French / Latin

osprey

The hawk that plunges into water for fish carries a…

Greenlandic Inuit1

annoraaq

From Arctic survival gear to British slang for…

French from Old French

potager

The potager — the ornamental kitchen garden that makes…

Yiddish (from Hebrew)

מגילה

megile

A sacred scroll of the Hebrew Bible became a Yiddish…

Afar / East African

dik-dik

The dik-dik is an antelope the size of a rabbit, and…

Persian / Urdu

داستان

dastaan

A Persian word for the grand epic narrative — tales so…

Dutch/Middle Dutch

vracht

Dutch merchants loading their ships called the cargo…

Cornish / Old Welsh

tor

TOR

The great rocky outcrops that crown the moorland hills…

Latin from ancient Near Eastern trade

linum

linen

The fabric of pharaohs and priests takes its name from…

Guugu Yimithirr

gangurru

Captain Cook asked what the hopping animal was…

Portuguese (from Fiot/Bantu)

macaco

A Bantu word for monkey passed through Portuguese…

Urdu/Persian

खाकी

khākī

The color of dust became the color of empire.

Fula / West African Creole

mojo

A West African charm word that became the soul of…

Italian / French

neroli

An Italian princess brought orange blossom perfume to…

Classical Nahuatl1

calpolli

Surprisingly, calpolli was a house-group before it was…

Cornish / Middle Welsh

puffin

PUF-in

The improbable-looking seabird with its rainbow bill…

German from Latin

Brezel

A monk twisted dough into the shape of arms crossed in…

Spanish (from Portuguese crioulo)

criollo

A word that began as a colonial term for people born…

Wemba-Wemba (Aboriginal Australian)

bunyip

The water-dwelling creature of Aboriginal oral…

Irish / Scottish Gaelic

gob

The blunt, informal English word for a mouth — 'shut…

English place name

Chesterfield

The deep-buttoned, roll-armed sofa that became the…

Guarani

aguara

Aguara is a fox word that ended up naming wolves.

English (origin uncertain)

cantilever

A cantilever is a beam that sticks out into empty air…

English (origin obscure)

syllabub

SIL-uh-bub

An Elizabethan dessert of cream whipped with wine or…

Jagera / Turrbal (Aboriginal Australian)

bunya

The immense conifer whose football-sized cones fed…

Middle French

javeline

A Celtic word for a light throwing spear survived…

Mandarin1

風水

fēng shuǐ

Ancient geomancy that moved from Chinese graves to…

French (from the Tatar peoples)

Tatare

tar-TAR

A dish of raw beef served with capers and egg yolk…

Algonquian (Virginia Algonquian)

torope

Terrapin entered English from the Virginia Algonquian…

Massachusett / Narragansett (Algonquian)

pauwau

Powwow entered English as a word for an Indigenous…

Portuguese (from Chinese/Sanskrit)

pagoda

Buddhist towers needed a European name—Portuguese…

Nuu-chah-nulth (Wakashan)

p'ácʼaɬ

p'acal

Potlatch named a ceremony in which the host gave…

French (from German/Dutch)

Bollwerk

Every tree-lined Parisian boulevard was once a…

Turkish (from Persian)

zurna

The reed flute that has called people to weddings,…

Tibetan / Dzongkha

རྫོང

dzong

Dzong — 'fortress' in Tibetan — names the great…

Portuguese/Latin

binnacle

The wooden box that housed a ship's compass — the most…

Maghrebi Arabic

gundi

A desert rodent kept its Arabic name while science…

Low German1

kontor

Oddly, kontor began as a place for counting.

Lepcha

serow

An East Himalayan goat gave English a name through a…

Catalan / Occitan

espadrille

The flat canvas shoes with braided rope soles that…

Kalaallisut (Greenlandic Inuit)

annoraaq

An Arctic survival jacket became a British insult for…

Norwegian from Old Norse

ski

The Norwegian word for 'stick of wood' became winter's…

Cree

pimîhkân

The most calorie-dense portable food in human history…

Medieval Latin/Italian

carne levare

The world's biggest party is named after giving up…

German (Swiss dialect)

Rucksack

A Swiss-German back-sack climbed the Alps and…

Arabic (possibly from Greek)

فلوكة

falūka

The lateen-rigged sailing vessel that has plied the…

Quechua via Spanish

llama

Spanish conquistadors couldn't spell the Quechua word,…

French (personal name)

leotard

The tight-fitting garment worn by gymnasts, dancers,…

Hindi/Urdu

खुशी

khushi

The Hindi word for 'pleasure' became British slang for…

English from Portuguese mangue

mangrove

The coastal trees that protect shorelines, nurse fish,…

French / Italian

accollata

accollāta

Before it meant praise, an accolade was a literal…

Australian Aboriginal (Nyungar)

bundi

boondie

A throwing club gave colonial English a blunt word for…

Ghanaian English

highlife

A word that originally described the elite social…

Gullah / Wolof

jug / joog

jug

A word meaning wicked or disorderly in the Gullah…

English from Swahili/Spanish

dinga

dengue

The 'bone-breaking fever' may owe its name to a…

Japanese (from Chinese)

円 (圓)

Japan's currency takes its name from the Chinese word…

Frankish1

war

War began as a word for confusion.

Tupi (via Portuguese/French)

susuarana

The big cat known by more names than any other animal…

Spanish (origin disputed; possibly Tertullian)

tertulia

The Spanish word for an informal literary gathering —…

Dutch/Greek

de affodil

A flower whose English name is a beautiful accident —…

Bantu (Shona / regional)

kalimba

A small instrument of metal tongues mounted on a…

English (from Crimean place name)

balaclava

A catastrophic military blunder in Crimea left…

English from Old English

adese

adze

The adze is the oldest shaping tool in human history —…

Latin/Italian

harmonica

Named for harmony itself — from the Greek word for a…

Hindi (patti) via British India

puttees

The spiral leg-wrappings that British soldiers wore…

Portuguese via Indian English

vindaloo

The British curry that's actually Portuguese wine —…

Akan (Asante/Ghana)

kente

Strips of hand-woven silk and cotton, assembled into…

Persian via Hindi

شال

shāl

The Kashmir wrap that warmed empresses and became…

English from multiple origins

typhoon

Three ancient words from three continents—Greek,…

Arabic / Persian / Urdu

عشق

ishq

Not merely love but a force that unmakes you — an…

Turkic / Mongolian

тамга

tamga

The ancient Turkic-Mongolian word for a clan's…

Tswana

tsessebe

One of Africa's fastest antelopes entered English…

English from Dharug (Aboriginal Australian)

boomerang

The weapon that comes back was named by people the…

Amharic (via Italian)

ማኪያቶ

mäkiyato

The word means 'stained' in Italian, but it was Addis…

Middle Dutch / Old Norse

rif

The Dutch called the dangerous ridge of rock or sand…

Trinidadian English1

steelpan

The only acoustic instrument invented in the 20th…

English from Tongan

tabu

taboo

Captain Cook brought back another word from the…

Hungarian from Serbian/Croatian from Latin

paprika

The spice that defines Hungarian cuisine traveled from…

Latin (via Old French)

page

The flat surface on which you read these words was…

Chinese (Hokkien/Cantonese via Pidgin English)

感謝

gám jeh

The old naval and merchant slang word 'cumshaw' —…

Romani (from Ossetic/Iranian)

vardo

vardo / vordon

The iconic painted wagon of the Romani traveler—the…

Late Greek / Medieval French

katastichon

A cadastre is a map that answers the question every…

English (Caribbean colonial)

rum

The spirit that powered the triangular slave trade,…

English (origin disputed)

poker

Poker is a word whose own etymology is a bluff — its…

Halkomelem

sθə́qəy̓

sockeye

A salmon name crossed a trade jargon and became a…

Hokkien (Min Nan Chinese)

先生

sinseh

In the shophouses of Southeast Asia, a word for…

Tupi via Portuguese

acaju

The Brazilian nut that hangs from a fake fruit — named…

Turkic/Mongol via Russian

орда

orda

The Mongol word for 'camp' became English's word for…

Spanish (vaca + -ero)

vaquero

The American cowboy, the rodeo, the lasso, the ranch,…

Guarani (via Spanish)

mate

A Guarani word for the gourd in which the drink was…

Swahili (from English)

simu

The Swahili word for telephone is simu — a borrowing…

Guernésiais

ormer

A shellfish name from the Channel Islands still…

Mongolic1

ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ

khagan

One extra syllable turned a khan into an emperor.

English (neologism)

meritocracy

The word was invented in 1958 as a warning — a…

English (from Middle English barre)

barrister

A barrister — from the bar, the physical railing that…

Arabic from Greek from Akkadian

drachma

dir-ham

The currency still used across the Arab world carries…

Spanish (tele + novela)

telenovela

The Spanish word for a serialized television drama is…

Tibetan (via Balti)

པུ་ལུ

pulu

A Tibetan word for a willow root ball became the name…

Malay (via Persian)

achar

acar

The tangy, spiced pickle served alongside rice and…

Venetian Italian

regata

Gondoliers racing on the Grand Canal gave the world…

Papuan Malay (via Malay)

kèsuari

cassowary

The cassowary — the world's most dangerous bird —…

Spanish / Portuguese

rumbo

A rhumb line is the navigator's straight line — a…

Nyulnyul / Gangulu (Australian Aboriginal)

barramundi

A fish so prized it was given a name meaning…

Sanskrit via Persian and Arabic

नारंग

nāraṅga

The fruit came before the color—and the word lost a…

Hindi/Bengali

डिंगी

ḍiṅgī

The Bengali riverboat became every yacht's tender.

Spanish (Peruvian)

cajón

A wooden box that became a drum — because enslaved…

Hausa / Twi

harmattan

har-muh-TAN

The dry, dusty wind that blows from the Sahara toward…

Tamil/Malayalam

மாங்காய்

māṅkāy

The king of fruits kept its Dravidian name as it…

Arabic via Turkish/Persian

شَرْبَة

sharba

The Arabic drink became Turkish delight became frozen…

Spanish (possibly from Portuguese or Khoikhoi)

corral

co·RRAL

An enclosed space for horses or cattle that became a…

Sanskrit (via Portuguese and Persian)

lākshā

A hundred thousand tiny insects gave their lives to…

Hopi

kachina

A sacred being became a museum label in two…

Nigerian English

Afrobeat

A word coined by Fela Kuti to name the music he was…

Arabic / Persian / Turkish (via French)

قهوه‌خانه

qahwa-khāneh

A word that began as an Arabic name for a stimulating…

English from Dutch/German via French

arquebus

AR-kwi-bus

The first firearm light enough to carry on a shoulder…

Arabic / Persian / Turkish

کباب

kabāb

An Arabic and Persian word for roasted or grilled meat…

Cariban (via Caribbean Spanish)

annatto

Annatto is the orange-red seed that has been painting…

Ottoman Turkish / Arabic

باقلوا

bāqlawā

Layers of buttered pastry soaked in honey and studded…

Tahitian

tapa

Europe learned this cloth from the wrong island and…

Dravidian (Tamil/Malayalam)

ēlam

The spice called 'queen of spices' in India is today…

Samoan / Proto-Polynesian

talo

taro

Taro is not just a crop — it is, in Hawaiian…

Kazakh1

қымыз

kumis

Horse milk became a diplomatic drink before it became…

Mande

grigri

A Mande word for a protective charm — a small bag of…

Yoruba (via Hausa)

danshiki

The dashiki began as a West African work garment worn…

French from Tupi

boucanier

Pirates got their name from a barbecue grill—because…

New Latin (from German)

Fuchsia

fuchsia

A German botanist who died in 1566 woke up in the…

Russian (from Kabardian/Nart languages)

нарзан

narzan

The 'water of the Narts' — a legendary mineral spring…

Dutch / Portuguese

dodaars / doudo

The Portuguese called it stupid, the Dutch called it…

Tamil/Hindi

கூலி

kuli

A word for wages became a word for workers—then a word…

Abkhazian

аджика

ad-ZHEE-ka

A chili paste from the subtropical coast of the Black…

English (from Inuit/Cree contact)

husky

A corruption of the word 'Esky' or 'Huskemaw' —…

Rioplatense Spanish

tuco-tuco

tucutuco

An underground rodent is named for the sound it makes,…

Italian/Spanish

pavana

pa-VAH-na

The stateliest dance of the Renaissance has two…

Jamaican Creole (from Bube dupe or related Bantu/Igbo forms)

duppy

The Jamaican word for a ghost — the spirit of the dead…

Afrikaans from Portuguese

kraal

A Portuguese word for a livestock pen traveled to…

Old Norse / Old Swedish

blundra

From the Old Norse verb meaning 'to shut one's eyes'…

Brazilian Portuguese from Bantu

batucada

The percussive heart of Rio's Carnival — a wall of…

Rumsen Ohlone

aulon

The iridescent shellfish prized by sushi chefs and…

Spanish (sobre + mesa)

sobremesa

Spanish has a single word for the unhurried time spent…

Polish / Turkic origin

ułan

ulan / uhlan

The lancer cavalry who became the most feared and…

Mandinka / Dyula (West Africa)

balafon

The xylophone of West African griots — the instrument…

Old Norse place name

Jersey

The close-fitting knit shirt worn by athletes and…

Scottish English1

car fuffle

The most politely British word for a commotion is…

English from Swahili from Arabic from Akkadian

duka

DOO-kah

A small shop in East Africa whose name traveled from a…

English from Persian/Hindi-Urdu

پایجامه

pāy-jāmeh

Leg-garments for emperors became sleepwear for the…

Filipino

arnis

Arnis began as armor. Then the armor vanished and the…

Bulgarian

ракия

rakia

A Balkan spirit word became a regional identity test…

Yuwaalaraay (Australian Aboriginal)

budgerigar

The world's most popular pet bird — found in three…

Filipino English

jeepney

JEEP-nee

After World War II, Filipinos took the American…

Old English via Old Norse

gafol

The triangular wall at the end of a pitched roof…

Spanish (from duen de casa)

duende

The Spanish word for the uncanny spirit that makes a…

Sumerian1

ma-na

MA-na

The Sumerian unit of weight — the mina — is the oldest…

Turkish / Arabic

makrama

A word for a fringed towel or napkin -- something…

Narragansett

poquauhock

quahog

A clam gave English both a food word and part of its…

English from Taíno/Arawakan

guayaba

guava

A Caribbean fruit word that traveled from Taíno…

English from Ga (Ghana)

kwashiorkor

kwah-shee-OR-kor

A Ghanaian word for the illness a child gets when a…

Latin from Mesopotamian technology

culina

kiln

The oven that fires pottery and bricks carries a Latin…

Bantu (various)

marimba

Wooden keys singing over gourds—an African instrument…

English from Latin via Arabic

surd

The Arabic word for a deaf, speechless number — one…

English from Zulu / Tsonga (Bantu)

nyala

nyah-LAH

The 'shifty one' — a name given by Zulu speakers to…

English (early modern, from Dutch or Low German)

wolvering

The most ferocious mustelid in the world — pound for…

French from Franco-Provençal

chalet

A Alpine herder's summer hut became the world's symbol…

Kimbundu (Angola)

kingombo

A Bantu word for okra became Louisiana's signature…

English from Japanese

人力車

jinrikisha

The 'human-powered vehicle' was invented in Japan,…

Urdu / Persian

kamarband

The sash worn with black-tie formal wear is a garment…

Shona

mbira

The mbira is a thumb piano of extraordinary antiquity…

Hindi (via Persian, from Chinese)

चाय

chāy

The overland twin of 'tea' — a word that traveled by…

Scottish (surname)

Watt

The unit of power on every lightbulb, every motor, and…

Arabic (place name)

mocha

al-Mukha

The word that names a flavor — the dark, chocolatey…

Italian (Florentine)

fiorino

Florence put a flower on its gold coin and the flower…

Galibi Carib

tinamu

tinamou

An almost invisible forest bird gave Europe one of its…

Spanish (origin disputed)

fandango

fan·DAN·go

An energetic Spanish dance in triple time that swept…

English (nautical)

dead reckoning

For centuries, sailors crossing featureless ocean…

Natick (Massachusetts Algonquian)

mugwump

The English word for a fence-sitter in politics —…

Middle Low German

slag

The glassy waste left when ore surrenders its metal —…

Serbian/South Slavic

вампир

vampir

A Serbian word for the undead travelled from Balkan…

Marathi1

वडा

vada

A fried snack became a city identity faster than most…

Tibetan/Nepali

ཤར་པ

sherpa

An ethnic group became a job description — the Sherpa…

Kimbundu (Angolan)

mbanza

The enslaved brought their instruments—and created…

Aboriginal Australian

buma

boomer

A returning weapon named a generation by accident, not…

Nahuatl (via Spanish)

mizquitl

The gnarly desert tree that defines the landscape of…

Kabi Kabi

wallum

A whole landscape in Queensland survives in one…

Temne / Mandinka

kola

A bitter nut chewed for centuries across West Africa…

Middle English / Old Norse

bilge

The lowest, filthiest interior space on any wooden…

English from Nahuatl

chocolate

The Aztecs drank the gods' bitter water. Europe added…

Yuwaalaraay (Aboriginal Australian)

galah

The pink-and-grey cockatoo that gathers in noisy,…

Hindi / Malay

maina

The bird that talks back — the mynah has been the…

French (from a person's name)

Mansart

The distinctive double-sloped roof that defines…

Mayan (possibly via Spanish)

sikar

The rolled tobacco that Mayans smoked became the…

English from Arabic/Berber

كسكس

kuskus

North Africa's ancient grain dish — steamed, not…

Portuguese, from Sanskrit/Gujarati tānkī

tanque

The armored vehicle that changed warfare in the First…

Portuguese from Greek

marmelo

A gift for a seasick queen became Britain's breakfast…

Tagalog / Malay

balangay

A boat became a village became the smallest unit of…

English from Mahlemut (Inupiaq people name)

malamute

The large working sled dog of the Arctic carries the…

Middle English / Old French

dresser

A kitchen sideboard for dressing food — arranging,…

Ottoman Turkish / Urdu (from Arabic)

huqqa

The elaborate water pipe that became a symbol of…

Spanish/Basque

pelota

The Spanish word for a ball — borrowed from Latin pila…

German (surname)

Diesel

A German engineer's surname became an engine, a fuel,…

Late Latin (from Gaulish)

leuca

The league that Verne sent Captain Nemo twenty…

Sanskrit/Persian

کشمیر

Kashmīr

A valley in the Himalayas gave its name to the…

Spanish (pasar + -eo)

paseo

The Spanish word for a leisurely evening walk — a…

English via Spanish

gabardine

GAB-ər-deen

The fabric of Humphrey Bogart's trench coat and the…

Lushootseed

geoduck

An enormous clam gave English a word people still…

Nyungar

gilgie

An Aboriginal crayfish kept its local name in…

Trinidad Creole (origin disputed: West African kaiso, or possibly French Caribbean créole)

calypso

The music that became the sound of the Caribbean —…

Yagara (Australian Aboriginal)

yakka

The Australian word for hard work — 'hard yakka' — is…

Spanish (Colombian)

cumbia

KOOM-bya

Colombia's national rhythm was named by the enslaved…

Mexican Spanish (from Nahuatl)

enchilada

en·chi·LA·da

A corn tortilla dipped in chili sauce and wrapped…

Middle English / Germanic

slēt

A word from the cold margins of Germanic Europe —…

Spanish (from Basque)

chaparro

cha·pa·RRAL

The scrubby, thorny, fire-adapted shrublands that…

Tigrinya / Amharic

ዓድዋ

Adwa

A town in northern Ethiopia whose name became a word —…

English from Tahitian/Samoan

tatau

tattoo

Captain Cook heard a sound—tap, tap, tap—and brought…

French (from Swiss dialect)

sérac

Sérac — a Swiss cheese lent its name to the white ice…

Irish (Gaelic)

spraoi

spree

The English word for an unrestrained burst of activity…

American English1

nerd

A nonsense creature in a Dr. Seuss book escaped the…

New Latin (named 1821, for Stamford Raffles)

Rafflesia

Rafflesia arnoldii is the world's largest individual…

Hindi via English

tussah

TUS-uh

While the world knows the silk of the domesticated…

Old French from Latin/Greek

dolce melos

The hammered string instrument's name literally means…

Mi'kmaq (Algonquian)

xalibu

Caribou reached English from the Mi'kmaq word for the…

Persian from Mongol

مغول

mogul

The Mongol emperors of India became Wall Street's word…

Guaraní / Quechua

ka'a mati

Yerba mate is the infused leaf of a South American…

Latin via theology

limbus

The edge of Hell became a dance, a state of…

English (coined from Tanzania)

tanzanite

A blue stone found in only one place on earth — a few…

Tamil / Sanskrit

பரதநாட்டியம்

bharatanatyam

A name woven from legend and linguistics — 'Bharata's…

Spanish (from Caribbean origin, possibly Arawakan)

baracuda

The torpedo-shaped predator of tropical reefs carries…

Hokkien Chinese via Japanese

醬油

jiàngyóu (Mandarin) / jiu4 jau4 (Cantonese) / siyu (Hokkien)

English borrowed the word for soy sauce from Japanese,…

Lese (DRC)

okapi

Hidden in Congo's rainforest, a creature so elusive…

Arabic (from Egyptian)

šdwf

sha-DOOF

The counterweighted lever that lifts water from the…

Kaurna1

wurley

A hut word crossed into English and became a whole…

Persian (Farsi)

aza

Asafoetida is called 'devil's dung' in English and…

Zulu/Xhosa

indaba

The Zulu word for a conference between chiefs — a…

Arabic / French place name

Tanger

The small, easy-peel citrus fruit takes its name from…

Proto-Polynesian

umu

A hole in the ground became a map of the Pacific.

Turkish / Italian

sikke / zecchino

sikke

An Ottoman gold coin stamped at the imperial mint --…

English from Middle Low German

dövel

dowel

The humble wooden peg that has reinforced joints,…

English from Greek via Arabic

khatt al-raml

khatt ar-raml

The word means 'earth divination' in Greek, but its…

West African (Mande languages, via French)

guiriot / jali

griot / jali

West Africa's living libraries — the keepers of…

Arabic (probable origin)

bu hibab

Baobab is a tree so improbably shaped — vast smooth…

Scandinavian / Middle English

fog

A word of murky origin — possibly Scandinavian,…

Dutch / Middle Dutch

wafel

The grid-patterned cake came to English with its Dutch…

English from French from Latin

culverin

KUL-vər-in

A cannon named for a snake — its long barrel and…

English from Malay

kapuk

kapok

The Malay word for the silky fiber that filled…

Persian / Hindustani

پای‌جامه

pāy-jāma

The Persian phrase for 'leg garment' — pāy-jāma —…

Thai/Lao

แม่โขง

Mae Khong

The greatest river in Southeast Asia carries a name…

Dutch (via Spanish and French)

vrijbuiter

A Dutch word for pirate sailed through Spanish and…

Italian/Basque

bizarro

The origin of 'bizarre' is itself bizarre—it may come…

Gujarati1

હડતાળ

hartal

A market shutdown became a language of mass politics.

Akkadian / Hebrew place name

Bāb-el

The English word for incomprehensible noise and…

Luganda

matoke

ma-TOH-kay

The Luganda word for unripe cooking bananas that are…

Cornish / Brythonic

gullan

GUL-an

The bird that screams over every harbour in the North…

Malay / Indonesian

sambal

The fiery chili paste that anchors Indonesian and…

Greek from Phoenician

kinnamomon

The spice that bankrolled empires—and whose origins…

Khoikhoi (via Afrikaans)

dagga

The South African word for cannabis traveled from the…

Lao/Thai (Isaan)

หมอลำ

mǒo-lam

The musical tradition of the Lao-speaking Isaan region…

Louisiana Creole French

zarico

A word likely born from the Creole pronunciation of…

Spanish (from Latin mixtus)

mestizo

The Spanish colonial system created a rigid racial…

Bugis

anoa

A buffalo shrank on an island and kept its old name.

Taíno/Arawakan

canaoua

The first American word to enter European languages —…

Turkic (via Russian)

yurt

Portable homes that crossed continents—the…

French/Italian (origin debated)

domino

The domino tile may take its name from a priest's…

Brazilian Portuguese / Spanish

gringo

The word for a foreigner in Latin America has at least…

Malay (onomatopoeia)

gekoq

The lizard named for its call — 'gek-ko, gek-ko.'

New Latin (named 1753, for Georg Josef Kamel)

Camellia

Camellia is named for a Jesuit brother who never…

French (place name)

Cognac

The world's most prestigious brandy is named after a…

Swahili (via an elephant's name)

jumbo

One elephant's name became the word for everything…

Portuguese (from Kimbundu/Bantu)

berimbau

A single-string bow that survived the Middle Passage…

Akan

kusimanse

cusimanse

An African mongoose reached English under its Twi name…

Congolese French

soukous

One French jolt became the sound of Kinshasa dancing.

Hindi/Urdu from Arabic

नवाब

nawāb

The Mughal governors became rich British merchants…

Gascon/Basque

isard

The Pyrenean chamois — a mountain goat-antelope that…

Louisiana French (from Spanish la ñapa, from Quechua yapay)

lagniappe

The Louisiana word for the little extra a shopkeeper…

American English (Italian-American slang)

gonzo

An Italian-American slang word for 'fool' became the…

Greek (from akis, a point or thorn)

ἀκακία

akakia

Acacia comes from the Greek word for a thorn — and the…

Nguni1

donga

A ravine in South Africa became an English geology…

Afrikaans from Dutch

trek

Boer farmers named their ox-wagon migrations—and gave…

Greek (coined 1788)

εὖ + καλυπτός

eu + kalyptos

Eucalyptus means 'well-covered' in Greek — a name…

Spanish from indigenous (Cumanagoto / Timoto-Cuica)

arepa

Venezuela and Colombia have been fighting over this…

Cuban Spanish1

rumba

Born in the dockside solares of Havana and Matanzas,…

Greek (via French)

pylon

A pylon was first the monumental gateway of an…

English (eponym)

Shrapnel

One of the few words in English named after a weapons…

New Latin (named 1789, for Louis Antoine de Bougainville)

Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea is named for the first French…

Cornish / Brythonic substrate

noggin

NOG-in

A small wooden drinking cup with a Celtic name became…

English via Arabic

gauze

gawz

The thinnest of all woven fabrics, the one used to…

Urdu / Hindi (from Persian, from Arabic)

نواب

navāb (Urdu) / navāb (Hindi)

The Mughal Empire's provincial governors were called…

German / Latin

Föhn

FERN (approximately) / FOEHN

The warm Alpine wind that melts winter snow overnight,…

Hungarian (personal name)

Bíró

The ballpoint pen that ended the fountain pen's long…

Mycenaean Greek (Linear B)

ko-ri-ja-da-na

Coriander is one of the oldest documented spices in…

Irish English

Blarney

Blarney — smooth, flattering, persuasive talk that is…

Urdu / Persian (from Arabic)

هودج

hawdaj (Arabic) / haudah (Urdu/Persian)

A canopied throne carried on the back of an elephant —…

Provençal/Italian/Arabic (< Latin sapere)

sabir

The medieval Mediterranean's trade pidgin took its…

English from Arabic/Turkish/Persian

شربت

sharbat

An Arabic word for 'drink' froze into Italian sorbet —…

Hindi/Gujarati

बंगला

bangla

The Bengal-style house became the suburban dream from…

Greek from Turkish

τζατζίκι

tzatziki

The yogurt sauce that traveled from Central Asia to…

Celtic / Old French

cé / kai

quay

The waterfront platform where ships tie up to load and…

Tamil / Sanskrit (via Portuguese)

சக்கரை

cakkarai (Tamil) / śarkarā (Sanskrit)

The Sanskrit word for grit and gravel became the name…

Navajo

hogan

One Navajo house word entered English without taking…

English (disputed: possibly from Hungarian bocskai)

busby

The tall fur cap worn by British Household Cavalry…

Persian / Old Iranian

شاه

shāh

The Persian word for king — shāh — is hiding in plain…

Japanese from Portuguese

天ぷら

tempura

Portuguese missionaries brought battered frying to…

Gujarati via Portuguese and English

বানিয়া

banian

A caste label became a tree name through colonial…

Mongolic/Turkic

хаан

khaan

From Genghis to Imran — the title that ruled half the…

Arabic (possibly from West African Wolof)

بَنَان

banān

A fruit from Southeast Asia got its name in West…

New Latin1

Dahlia

A Swedish botanist named a Mexican flower after a…

English from Chinook Jargon

camas

An onion field fed empires, and English kept its…

Spanish/Río de la Plata

tango

Born in the brothels of Buenos Aires — a dance so…

Old Irish

dún

Dún is the Old Irish word for a fortified hill or…

English from Old French from Latin

vellum

VEL-əm

The finest writing surface of the medieval world was…

Russian (from Turkic)

каракуль

karakul'

Named for a remote lake in the Pamir Mountains, this…

Tswana (Bantu)

tsetse

The name of the fly that shaped the entire history of…

Portuguese from Hindi/Bengali

varanda

A word that circled the tropics—from India to Portugal…

Old Welsh / Common Brythonic

broc

BROK

Every English speaker who has ever seen a…

Old Church Slavonic

цар

czar

A Slavic corruption of Caesar — the name of a Roman…

Kongo/Kikongo

nzambi

The undead of Haiti and Hollywood speak with a Central…

Portuguese (from Malay)

junco

The great flat-bottomed trading vessels of China and…

Algonquian (Eastern)

menhaden

A fertilizer fish gave English one of its strangest…

Hindi / Urdu (hybrid of English + Arabic)

मेमसाहिब

memsāhib (Hindi/Urdu)

Half English, half Arabic, born in colonial India —…

Spanish (correr + de + toro)

corrida de toros

The Spanish term for the bullfight translates…

Hausa

boko

A Hausa word meaning fake or fraudulent may have…

French (from Cambrai)

chambray

A Flemish city famous for its fine linen gave its name…

Javanese/Indonesian

gado-gado

A dish named for the act of mixing — and perhaps the…

Proto-Indo-European

medu

Mead—honey fermented with water—is almost certainly…

Persian (via Dutch and Low German)

انگاره

angareh

A small pickled cucumber whose name traveled from…

Greek from Hebrew/Sanskrit

σάπφειρος

sappheiros

A gemstone name that traveled from ancient India to…

Gullah (from West African languages)

juke

"Disorderly" roadhouses gave America the music machine.

Spanish from Indigenous American languages

chicha

An old American drink kept its name while empires…

Urdu/Hindi from Persian

پردہ

pardah

Purdah — the practice of female seclusion, and the…

Old Turkic / Mongolian

тэнгэр

tengri

The ancient Turkic and Mongolian word for the eternal…

Algonquian (Powhatan/Renápe)

tamahak

The Virginia Algonquian word for a stone-headed…

Scots1

tweel

A misread scrawl of a Scottish word — tweel, the local…

Spanish (from Quechua or Mapuche; origin disputed)

gaucho

The mounted herder of the South American pampas — the…

Hindi (from Sanskrit via Portuguese)

पालकी

pālkī

The royal litter that carried empires — and the word…

Kimbundu / Haitian Creole

mambo

A Kimbundu word for a voodoo priestess crossed the…

Javanese / Malay

tempeh

tempe

A cake of soybeans bound by white fungal threads,…

Old Norse / Scandinavian

gala

A word that may have begun as a Scandinavian verb…

Wiradjuri (Aboriginal Australian)

kookaburra

The bird whose laugh echoes through the Australian…

Yucatec Maya1

ts'onot

Sacred sinkholes where the Maya spoke to their gods —…

Latin from Greek (Phasis, Colchis)

phasianus

The game bird on English country estates carries the…

English from Quechua/Mapudungun

punchu

poncho

A simple hole in a blanket became the most practical…

Italian (from Arabic lisān al-Faranī)

lingua franca

The phrase we use for any common language between…

Italian (from Medieval Latin)

credenza

The low sideboard in every modern office and dining…

English from Quechua/Aymara

allpaqa

alpaca

The Andean camelid with the softest fiber in the…

Latin (from Gaulish)

carrus

A Celtic word for a two-wheeled war chariot rolled…

Akkadian / Sumerian tradition

sīrum

SEE-rum

The tower that stores grain on every farm and the…

Swedish1

tungsten

Swedish miners named it 'heavy stone' - now it lights…

Thai from Malay

กะปิ

gà-pì

The pungent fermented shrimp paste that underlies…

Medieval Greek1

búfalos

A Greek word for a kind of ox, borrowed by Latin,…

Sundanese1

angklung

Two bamboo tubes, a wooden frame, and a single shake —…

Okinawan / Japanese

ヌンチャク

nunchaku

Two sticks connected by a cord — a weapon born from…

Ancient Egyptian/Greek

Φάρος

Pharos

A small island off the coast of Alexandria gave its…

Louisiana Creole (from Provençal jambalaia, influenced by West African and Spanish)

jambalaya

The dish and word that defines Louisiana cooking may…

Latin/English

coronation

A flower whose name may descend from the Latin word…

Czech1

husitský

The followers of a burned Czech preacher gave their…

English (from a surname)

Boycott

boycott

An entire community refused to speak to one man — and…

Yiddish from Hebrew

חוצפה

chutzpah

The audacity to sue your parents for giving birth to…

English from Faroese

skua

This seabird's English name is an island accent…

Chukchi

яранга

yaranga

Siberia built a house that walked with the reindeer.

English from Swahili from Arabic

askari

ah-SKAH-ree

A single Arabic word for soldier traveled from the…

Scottish Gaelic / Irish

céilidh

A ceilidh is not merely a party — it is an ancient…

English (scientific portmanteau)

parsec

A parsec — contraction of 'parallax arcsecond' — is…

Persian (via Latin)

هلو

holu

The Romans called it the Persian apple — malum…

Welsh / Brythonic Celtic

pennant

PEN-ant

A triangular flag that flies from every yacht mast and…

Spanish (from Carib/Taino)

Caníbal

Columbus misheard a people's name and gave the world…

Akkadian (from Sumerian gi)

qanû

KA-noo

The hollow reed that gave Mesopotamia its writing…

Carib

manati

The gentle, slow-moving sea cow of the Caribbean and…

Turkish place name

Angora

The soft fiber you know from sweaters and scarves…

Chinook Jargon

skukum

skookum

A frontier trade word still means strong because…

Igbo (West African)

ọkwuru

okwuru

The slimy vegetable that crossed the Atlantic in slave…

Tungusic (Evenki)

шаман

shaman

From Siberian tundra to therapy offices—a spiritual…

Massachusett (Algonquian)

wampompeag

Wampum was not beads for decoration — it was a…

Chichewa

kwacha

A dawn became money. Independence put sunrise on the…

Lithuanian (also Latvian: dziesma)

daina

The Baltic folk song tradition so ancient it preserves…

Afrikaans (from Dutch)

veld

The open grassland that shaped South African identity…

Valencian/Catalan

paella

The pan that named the dish — and sparked eternal…

Dutch (from Old Norse)

hvalros

Vikings called it 'whale-horse' - and that strange…

Jamaican Creole (from Igbo/Twi/West African, possibly from Hebrew via Arabic)

obeah

The Caribbean spiritual practice called obeah was…

Duala

makossa

A plural noun from Douala taught dancefloors across…

Lakota (Siouan)

thípi

The conical hide dwelling that defines visual…

Xhosa1

tokoloshe

A nursery terror became an English dictionary word.

Malay (from Tupi via Portuguese)

tapir

The same word names both the ancient tapirs of South…

Yandruwandha1

nardoo

An outback famine word entered English through a…

Spanish (from Chincha, Quechua)

chinchilla

chin·CHIL·la

A small Andean rodent with the densest fur of any land…

Uncertain (possibly Mayan/Arawak)

mahogany

The word that became synonymous with luxury furniture…

Gascon French

béret

The beret is one of Europe's oldest surviving hat…

French (from Turkish)

gilet

The sleeveless padded vest worn by hikers and…

Shawnee

wapiti

America's biggest deer is named for the patch of white…

Latin place name

Colonia Agrippina

The scented water you splash on in the morning is…

English from Hokkien Chinese

茅汁

kê-tsiap

A Chinese fish sauce became America's tomato…

Scottish English (possibly Old French)

tartan

The crisscrossed woolen pattern that identifies…

Russian (from Slavic)

соболь

sobol'

A small Siberian weasel had fur so valuable it drove…

French from Latin and Greek

monocle

The single eyeglass worn by Edwardian aristocrats and…

Sanskrit via Hindi

जगन्नाथ

Jagannath

A Hindu temple chariot became English's word for…

Caribbean Creole (Trinidad, Guyana, St. Vincent — from Kikongo nzambi or related Bantu)

jumbie

The spirit-figure of the French and Dutch Caribbean —…

Algonquian (Virginia)

tuckahoe

A survival food word became a place name and social…

Chinese (Cantonese/Pidgin English)

炒

chǎo

The casual English word for food — 'let's grab some…

Welsh / Celtic

craig

crag

The English word for a steep, rugged rock face comes…

Greek via Latin

Rhizome

RY-zohm

Beneath every meadow runs a hidden architecture — the…

Rapa Nui

moʻai

moai

The stone figures of Easter Island are not anonymous…

Persian via Turkish

درویش

darvīsh

The spinning mystics whose name means 'doorway' —…

Middle Low German / Scots

tram

A coal mine rail word that became the name of the…

Twi

fufu

One of West Africa's great staple foods is named by a…

Malay/Javanese

gong

The bronze disc that ends every dramatic scene has a…

Gaulish / Old Celtic

druides

The learned priests of the ancient Celts — 'those who…

Welsh / Common Brythonic

cwm

KOOM

The deep, steep-sided valleys carved into the flanks…

Filipino (Tagalog)

balut

A street food wrapped in newspaper, sold at night —…

German (from Czech)

Taler

A silver coin minted in a Bohemian valley gave its…

Arabic (for Egyptian concept)

miqyas al-nil

For five thousand years, Egypt's prosperity was read…

Portuguese (possibly from Hindi बरांडा)

varanda

The colonial porch that connected empire to tropics.

English from Portuguese from Khmer

gamboge

Cambodia gave its name to a tree resin, and that tree…

Spanish (from a literary character)

Quijote

A fictional knight who tilted at windmills gave…

Lingala

likuta

A word for lying became the title of a song everyone…

Swahili from Arabic

safari

A word that meant simply "journey" became a spectacle…

English (place name)

Cheddar

cheddar

A village in Somerset gave its name to the most widely…

Sinhala (via Portuguese/Spanish)

henakandaya

A Sri Lankan snake name traveled to South America and…

Latin from Greek (Sardinia)

sardina

The small oily fish packed into tins was named for the…

Latin (from Semitic)

tunica

The simple T-shaped garment worn by Roman slaves and…

Mande (West African)

bamanankan

The language of thirteen million people gave its name…

Malay (place name)

Bantam

Bantam (place name, now Banten)

A port city on the western tip of Java gave its name…

Spanish from Nahuatl

vainilla

The world's most popular flavor is named after a body…

English from Latin tuberosa

polyanthes tuberosa

tuberose

The flower they called the queen of the night — so…

French/Latin

lateen

The triangular sail that made it possible to sail…

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