50 English Words Borrowed From Other Languages

English is the world's most enthusiastic borrower of foreign vocabulary. Approximately 60% of English words derive from Latin or French roots, while thousands more come from German, Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, and hundreds of other languages. These borrowed words often produce surprising Scrabble and crossword opportunities.

Words Borrowed from French

The Norman Conquest of 1066 flooded English with French vocabulary. Restaurant (resting place), ballet (ball, dance), rendezvous (to present oneself), genre (type, kind), and chauffeur (stoker, driver) all come directly from French with minimal modification. Legal terms were particularly heavily borrowed: plaintiff, defendant, verdict, and jury are all French in origin.

Words Borrowed from Spanish

English borrowed heavily from Spanish during exploration of the Americas. Chocolate comes from the Aztec word "xocolatl" via Spanish. Hammock came from the Taino word "hamaca" through Spanish. Tomato, potato, avocado, and tobacco all took similar paths. Spanish itself borrowed many of these from indigenous American languages.

Words Borrowed from Arabic

Medieval European scholars translated Arabic scientific and mathematical texts, bringing Arabic vocabulary into European languages. Algebra (al-jabr), algorithm (from mathematician Al-Khwarizmi's name), almanac (al-manakh), coffee (qahwa via Turkish kahve), and cotton (qutn) are all Arabic in origin.

Scrabble-Valuable Borrowed Words

Many borrowed words score well in Scrabble because they contain unusual letter combinations. QOPH (a Hebrew letter, borrowed into English) scores 18 points for 4 letters. TZAR or TSAR (from Russian) uses the high-value Z. HAJJ (a Muslim pilgrimage) uses J twice for 18 points.