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Turkic Loanwords in English

The Turkic peoples, native to Siberia, were in close contact with the Mongolians for centuries. Therefore their languages share a lot of vocabulary, although they don't seem to be related. From Central Asia, they expanded into the Middle East and established many ruling dynasties, including of course the Ottomans, who ruled over southeastern Europe. Also, the Tatars ruled over large parts of Russia and Ukraine. But Turkic languages are still spoken in Siberia, most notably Yakut, whence one word in this quiz. Either through eastern Europe or Mediterranean trade, some Turkic words were adopted into English. The quiz does not include words that we strongly associate with Turkey or the Middle East, such as shawarma, nor words that Turkish borrowed from Arabic or Persian.
Thumbnail: Iznik tiles in the Selimiye Mosque, Edirne. If you know what this inscription says, please let me know! It might well be Arabic instead of Turkish, though.
* Words with an asterisk have uncertain or disputed etymologies.
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PeregrineFalcon
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Last updated: July 4, 2025
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First submittedApril 10, 2025
Times taken25
Average score35.7%
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A piece of cloth worn over the head and neck, covering everything except the eyes.
balaclava
An aromatic citrus fruit, used in perfume and in Earl Grey tea. The word was probably influenced by an Italian city.*
bergamot
A card game for four players, popular with old people.*
bridge
Sodomite. From 'Bulgar', originally a Turkish tribe.*
bugger
A brown cat, similar to the lynx, native to Africa and Asia. Literally 'black ear' in Turkish.
caracal
A secret network of government and military officials pursuing its own interests in defiance of elected politicians. A popular term for conspiracy theorists. This is a literal word for word translation of a Turkish idiom (calque) adopted in 1997.
deep state
A sleeveless vest or coat. Or 'the best a man can get'.
gilet
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Answer
A troop of plundering nomads, or a large number of something. The successor state of the Mongols in today's Russia is called the Golden ___.
horde
A type of Indian curry. Often braised chicken served with almonds.
korma
A spineless subordinate, a sycophant.*
lackey
A cold cut of beef from Romania. Can be served with mustard on rye bread.
pastrami
Conifer forests just south of the tundra.
taiga
A blood sucking creature from folklore. Via Slavic.*
vampire
A sour and thick fermented dairy product.
yogurt
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