English Loanwords Quiz

Language: Word, Meaning	Loanword	Date of Entry into English
Quechua: wanu (dung for fuel, fertilizer)		1595-1605
Russian: вода - voda (water)		1795-1805
Tagalog: bundok (mountain)		1940-1945
Irish: seamróg (trefoil)		1565-1575
Kimbundu: mbanza (a plucked string instrument)		1730-1740
Czech: robota (labor, drudgery)		1920
Malay: kəchap (fish sauce)		1705-1715
Hindi: चाँपना - chāmpnā (to press, massage)		1755-1765
Arabic: الجبر - al-jabr (to put together, restore)		1535-1545

Language: Word, Meaning	Loanword	Date of Entry into English
Japanese: 大君 - taikun (great prince)		1855-1860
Hebrew: מבין - mebhin (connoisseur, one who is experienced)		1960-1965
Dutch: rooster (list)		1720-1730
Tongan: tapu (forbidden)		1770-1780
Tagalog: kuto (head lice)		1910-1915
Yiddish: shmok (penis)		1890-1895
Kongo: nzambi (god)		1810-1820
Welsh: pen gwyn (white head)		1570-1580

Javascript is not currently enabled on your browser.
If you do have Javascript enabled:
This site uses javascript to make the magic happen.
Please turn on javascript and reload this page, or use a more current browser (like Firefox)

English Loanwords Quiz

by ffi

Created Nov 7, 2009 in Language
Game Plays 619

Friend Scores and Standings

Loading friend results....

Top Games Today in Language

Top Games with Similar Tags

Top User Games in Language

	ffi:	Nov 8th, 2009 at 04:03 GMT	1 point
	I tried to make this interesting - name the English word derived from each listed word. I personally think that the ones from Yiddish, Quechua and Tagalog are the best. If you have any questions, suggestions or corrections, please comment. If you like the quiz, why not nominate it?

	Tahnan:	Nov 8th, 2009 at 05:10 GMT	1 point
	We don't really get the word "cider" from Hebrew; we get it from Anglo-French, which got it from Latin, which got it from Greek, which probably got it from Hebrew. I think the same is true of "cot" from the Tamil. The OED disagrees entirely with the etymology of "banjo", which it has as a corruption of "bandore" from Spanish "bandurria". Also, if you're looking for more words to add, can I suggest Tagalog "bundok" (mountain)?

	ffi:	Nov 8th, 2009 at 13:49 GMT	1 point
	Thank you, Tahnan. 'Cider' is from Hebrew, though maybe a few steps too far away for the purposes of this quiz. I looked again at the etymology of 'cot' and saw that it is 'akin' to the Tamil word, more sharing a common ancestor, the latter probably being Sanskrit. On 'banjo' I stick to my etymology. I checked Random House and Merriam-Webster and both confirm that the word came through Jamaican English as 'banja' and from there likely through the Kimbundu word 'mbanza,' which has a similar pronunciation and refers to an instrument which is effectively a banjo.

	spqr:	Nov 8th, 2009 at 18:55 GMT	3 points
	I don't have any long etymological thing to say, but cool quiz

	D3nn1s:	Nov 8th, 2009 at 19:58 GMT	1 point
	I didn't even get the word from my own language...

	Rients:	Nov 9th, 2009 at 09:13 GMT	1 point
	I always thought penguin came from Latin pinguis 'fat'. Also the etymology for ketchup is debatable, some want to derive it from the Chinese (or rather Fujian dialect) word for 'eggplant sauce'.

	netsuke:	Nov 10th, 2009 at 16:47 GMT	2 points
	i really enjoyed this one.. thank you!

	lotsofpaulp:	Nov 15th, 2009 at 17:20 GMT	0 points
	The English word 'zombie' comes from the Creole word 'zonbi' in the Vodou religion (voodoo is our Americanized version of Vodou). And yes it means the same thing as zombie, but again is taken out of context by Hollywood and Michael Jackson.

	ffi:	Nov 15th, 2009 at 18:05 GMT	1 point
	Much like 'banjo,' 'zombie' comes from a creole word which itself is of African origin, in this case a Kongo word meaning 'god.'

	Inyro:	Nov 19th, 2009 at 03:36 GMT	1 point
	I love how our word for "zombie" at one point in its etymological history meant "god". It's little things like that that make reading the dictionary fun. Also, whether or not robota being the most guessed is because of how obvious it is, I feel proud to know that the Czech word is most popular. ^.^

	ulashima:	Nov 25th, 2009 at 10:54 GMT	0 points
	The existence of penguins were known in the British Isles by the 14th century? Wow, that's something! Wonder how they could get all the way to Wales from the southern South Hemisphere.

	MySpoonIsTooBig:	Nov 30th, 2009 at 22:16 GMT	1 point
	Very interesting! First thing I thought of was "Schadenfreude" as a loanword, but since there's no change in spelling I guess it wouldn't be good for a "hint"... bonus answer, maybe? I like the variety, I was expecting a lot of Yiddish cause I use so many of those words in my daily life and some of them I've heard used by non-Jews too- putz, schtup, schlep... language is fun!:)

	CooCooCachoo:	Mar 6th, 2010 at 13:22 GMT	1 point
	Awesome, thanks. Never heard of the word 'maven' but I guess that's cause I am ESL :þ