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English Loanwords From Every Language

See comments for description!
*multiword term
⁑would have used gong, but unsure of etymology
⁂ultimately from another language term
Might make a sequel, there were many words and many languages! Shoutout to tokamak, canoe, barbecue, and many more!
Quiz by
Neodymium
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Last updated: March 18, 2026
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First submittedMarch 16, 2026
Times taken38
Average score42.0%
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Language
Definition
Word
Afrikaans
Wide, open rural grassland and scrubland of Africa
Veld
Arabic
Hot beverage high in caffeine made from beans
Coffee
Bengali
Coarse fibre used to make sacks and mats
Jute
Burmese
Third largest ethnic group of Myanmar, aka Kayin
Karen
Cantonese
Deep bow which touches the head to the floor
Kowtow
Catalan
⁂Small round orange fruit related to peaches
Apricot
Czech
Programmable machine, humanoid machine
Robot
Dharug
Marsupial famous for eucalyptus consumption
Koala
Dutch
Shoulder held rocket launcher
Bazooka
French
Rod used in/by conductors, military, relay, police, etc.
Baton
German
Spirit of the times, mood of a period in history
Zeitgeist
Greek
Aircraft that can hover, and flies with two rotating blades
Helicopter
Gujarati
Another term for ivy gourd/scarlet gourd
Tindora
Hindustani
Large spotted cat, fastest animal on land
Cheetah
Hungarian
Powdered spice made from ground, dried chillies
Paprika
Inuktitut
Small narrow boat propelled by paddling while seated
Kayak
Italian
Center of gambling
Casino
Japanese
Wealthy/powerful business person, magnate/mogul
Tycoon
Javanese
⁑Violent flow of pyroclastic material down a volacano
Lahar
Kannada
Fast-growing grass with hard stem eaten by pandas
Bamboo
Korean
Video of eating large amounts of food
Mukbang
Malay
Be on an uncontrollable violent frenzy
Run amok
Malayalam
Very large tropical edible fruit
Jackfruit
Mandarin
*Extremely enthusiastic or energetic
Gung ho
Marathi
⁂Small carnivorous mammal known for predating snakes
Mongoose
Nahuatl
Spear thrower
Atlatl
Odia
⁂Mighty, unstoppable force
Juggernaut
Persian
Two player board game consisting of kings, pawns, etc.
Chess
Polish
Another term for European bison
Zubr
Portuguese
Highly venomous hooded snake
Cobra
Punjabi
Sikh place of worship
Gurdwara
Quechua
Antimalarial medicine used in tonic water
Quinine
Romani
Improvised knife
Shiv
Romanian
Type of cured meat common in delis and sandwiches
Pastrami
Russian
Riot/massacre of an ethnic group, esp. Jews.
Pogrom
Serbo-Croatian
Blood-sucking mythological creature
Vampire
Spanish
Undesirable black/brown winged insect (not bloodsucking)
Cockroach
Swahili
⁂A trip into the habitat of wild animals for tourism
Safari
Swedish
Dense, high melting point, robust metal element
Tungsten
Tagalog
Remote, rural areas, hinterlands (in the plural)
Boondocks
Taino
Bed suspended between two trees
Hammock
Tamil
Boat with two hulls
Catamaran
Telugu
Small terrestrial marsupial native to Oceania
Bandicoot
Thai
Motorized rickshaw
Tuk-tuk
Tibetan
Mountain dwelling unidentified abominable humanoid
Yeti
Tongan
Excluded or forbidden, especially by social custom
Taboo
Turkish
Semisolid food from bacterially fermented milk
Yogurt
Vietnamese
Soup consisting of broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat
Pho
Wolof
Curved yellow tropical fruit
Banana
Yiddish
A clumsy person
Klutz
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3 Comments
+1
Level 63
Mar 16, 2026
Okay, not every language, but all the bigger ones and then some! Sadly, some languages with loanwords not of widespread use or with only terms of disputed etymology, were skipped. I attempted to avoid culture specific words, such as specialty foods, to an extent. Some languages of origin may be slightly speculative.
+2
Level 53
Mar 16, 2026
Cool quiz! Would nominate if it let me
+1
Level 63
Mar 16, 2026
ty! i fixed it to noms now