Loanwords and the Languages English Meets
English grows by meeting other languages. Loanwords preserve the contact between communities, from Old Norse and Arabic to Czech, Persian, and the languages of modern science.
Curated words
Start with a word.
robot
Robot began with a Czech word for forced labor before becoming the name for a machine that works on its own.
Read the originhazard
Hazard moved from the language of dice and chance to the wider idea of danger and risk.
Read the originparadise
Paradise began as the concrete image of a walled garden before becoming a word for an ideal place.
Read the originwindow
Window is an old Norse “wind-eye,” a practical image for an opening that lets air and light into a room.
Read the originhusband
Husband began as an Old Norse word for the master or inhabitant of a house before becoming a family relationship term.
Read the originGuides to keep reading
Go deeper.
How English Borrows from Every Language It Meets
A clear tour of loanwords from Arabic, Nahuatl, Japanese, Hindi, West African languages, and more.
Words Borrowed from Around the World: A Guide to Loanwords
Loanwords show how languages adapt when people trade, migrate, cook, study, and create together.
Where Our Food Words Come From: A Culinary Etymology Tour
Coffee, chocolate, sandwich, ketchup, and curry all carry histories of trade, empire, and migration.