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The following are lists of words in the English language that are known as "loanwords" or "borrowings," which are derived from other languages.. For Old English-derived words, see List of English words of Old English origin.
Pages in category "Lists of English words of foreign origin" The following 52 pages are in this category, out of 52 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. ...
This is a list of English words inherited and derived directly from the Old English stage of the language. This list also includes neologisms formed from Old English roots and/or particles in later forms of English, and words borrowed into other languages (e.g. French, Anglo-French, etc.) then borrowed back into English (e.g. bateau, chiffon, gourmet, nordic, etc.).
3 Prepositions and other words used to form compound words. 4 See also. 5 ... both distinctions are shown as they are helpful when tracing the origin of English words.
Generally, words coming from French often retain a higher register than words of Old English origin, and they are considered by some to be more posh, elaborate, sophisticated, or pretentious. However, there are exceptions: weep , groom and stone (from Old English) occupy a slightly higher register than cry , brush and rock (from French).
Words of Nahuatl origin have entered many European languages. Mainly they have done so via Spanish. Most words of Nahuatl origin end in a form of the Nahuatl "absolutive suffix" (-tl, -tli, or -li, or the Spanish adaptation -te), which marked unpossessed nouns. Achiote (definition) from āchiotl [aːˈt͡ʃiot͡ɬ] Atlatl (definition)
However, he found considerable discrepancy between the most common and least common words. The top thousand words were 83% of English origin, while the least common were only 25% of English origin. [6] However, due to the variability of vocabulary of individuals, dialects, and time periods, exact percentages cannot be taken at face value. [3]
In a modern etymology analysis of one medieval Arabic list of medicines, the names of the medicines —primarily plant names— were assessed to be 31% ancient Mesopotamian names, 23% Greek names, 18% Persian, 13% Indian (often via Persian), 5% uniquely Arabic, and 3% Egyptian, with the remaining 7% of unassessable origin. [4]