This is a list English words of Polish origin, that is words used in the English language that were borrowed or derived, either directly or indirectly, from Polish. Several Polish words have entered English slang via Yiddish, brought by Ashkenazi Jews migrating from Poland to North America. Other English words were indirectly derived from Polish via Russian or West European languages, such as French, German or Dutch. The Polish words themselves often come from other languages, such as German or Turkish. Borrowings from Polish tend to be mostly words referring to staples of Polish cuisine, names of Polish folk dances or specialist, e.g. horse-related, terminology. Among the words of Polish origin there are several words that derive from Polish geographic names and ethnonyms, including the name Polska, "Poland", itself.
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Derived from common words
Directly
The following words are derive directly from Polish. Some of them are loanwords in Polish itself.
| Word | Meaning | Etymology | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babka, baba | A leavened coffee or rum cake flavored with orange rind, rum, almonds, and raisins | Polish and Ukrainian babka, a yeast cake ← diminutive of baba, "old woman" | AHD: babka, AHD: baba |
| Bigos | A Polish stew made with meat and cabbage | Polish bigos ← possibly German begossen, "doused" | AHD, SWO |
| Britzka, britska | A type of horse-drawn carriage | Polish bryczka ← diminutive of bryka, "wagon" | EB-1911 |
| Kielbasa | A spicy smoked Polish sausage | Polish kiełbasa, "sausage" ← East and West Slavic *kŭlbasa ← East Turkic kül bassï, "grilled cutlet" ← Turkic kül bastï: kül, "coals, ashes" + bastï, "pressed (meat)" (from basmaq, "to press") | AHD, OED |
| Konik | A horse breed | Polish konik ← diminutive of koń, "horse" | [citation needed] |
| Ogonek | A hook-shaped diacritic | Polish ogonek ← diminutive of ogon, "tail" | [citation needed] |
| Paczki | A Polish jelly doughnut | Polish pączki, plural of pączek ← diminutive of pąk, "bud" | AHD |
| Pierogi | A semicircular dumpling of unleavened dough with any of various fillings | Polish pierogi, plural of pieróg, "dumpling" | AHD, MW |
| Rendzina | A dark, grayish-brown soil that develops under grass on limestone and chalk | Polish rędzina ← rzędzić, "to chat" | MW |
| Sejm | Polish diet or parliament | Polish sejm, "diet" or "assembly" | OED |
| Zloty | Polish currency | Polish złoty, "golden" | AHD, OED |
Indirectly
The following words are derive from Polish via third languages.
| Word | Meaning | Etymology | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hetman | Historically, a Polish, Czech or Cossak military leader | Ukrainian гетьман, get'man ← Polish hetman ← Czech hejtman ← German Hauptmann ← Middle High German houbet, "head/high" + man, "man" | AHD, SWO |
| Horde | A nomadic tribe; a crowd or swarm | Middle French horde ← German Horde ← Polish horda ← Russian орда (ordá) ← Greek (Byzantine) hορδή (hordé) ← Mongol or North-West Turkic ordï, "camp" or "residence" ← Mongol orda, ordu, "court, camp, horde". | AHD, MW |
| Gherkin | A small cucumber | Dutch gurken, plural of gurk, "cucumber" ← East Frisian augurk ← possibly Polish ogórek ← possibly Medieval Greek αγγούριον, angourion ← possibly Persian angārah | AHD, OED |
| Schav, Schaf | A sorrel soup | Yiddish שטשאַוו, shtshav, "sorrel" ← Polish szczaw | AHD |
| Schlub, shlub | A clumsy, stupid or unattractive person | Yiddish zhlob or zhlub, "yokel", "boor" ← Polish żłób, "manger" | AHD, MW |
| Schmatte, shmatte | A rag | Yiddish shmate ← Polish szmata | AHD |
| Schmuck, shmuck | A clumsy or stupid person | Yiddish shmok, vulgar for "penis" ← Polish smok, "dragon" | AHD, OED |
| Uhlan, ulan | A cavalryman | German Uhlan ← Polish ułan ← Turkish oğlan, "boy" or "servant" | OED, MW |
Derived from geographic names and ethnonyms
See also: Name of Poland
| Word | Meaning | Etymology | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alla polacca | Like a polonaise (in musical notation) | Italian alla polacca, "in the Polish manner, Polish style" | MW |
| Bialy | A flat, round baked roll or bagel topped with onion flakes | Yiddish bialy ← short for bialystoker, "of Białystok", a town in north-eastern Poland | AHD, MW |
| Cracovian | A mathematical symbol used in cracovian calculus | Polish krakowian ← Kraków, a city in southern Poland, former capital | [citation needed] |
| Cracovienne, krakowiak | A lively Polish folk dance | French (danse) cracovienne, "Kraków (dance)", feminine of cracovien, "of Kraków"; Polish krakowiak, "inhabitant of Kraków" | MW: cracovienne, MW: krakowiak |
| Crackowe, cracowe, crakow, crakowe, | A long, pointed shoe popular in the 14th-15th centuries | Middle English crakowe ← Cracow, the English name of Kraków | MW |
| Of or related to the Czech Republic or its people | Polish Czech, "a Czech or Bohemian man" ← Czech Čech | AHD | |
| Mazurka | A Polish dance or a piece of music for such a dance | Russian мазурка, mazurka ← Polish (tańczyć) mazurka, "(to dance) the mazurka", accusative of mazurek ← diminutive of Mazur, "inhabitant of Masovia or Masuria", regions in north-eastern Poland | AHD, OED, SWO |
| Polack | A Pole; formerly a neutral term, now considered offensive | Polish Polak, "Pole" | AHD, OED |
| Polonaise | A stately, marchlike Polish dance or a piece of music for such a dance | French (danse) polonaise, "Polish (dance)", feminine of polonais, "Polish" | OED |
| Polonaise | A woman's overdress popular in the 18th century | French (robe à la) polonaise, "Polish (style dress)", feminine of polonais, "Polish" | OED |
| Polonaise | Sprinkled with browned butter and bread crumbs (of food, mostly vegetables) | French polonaise, feminine of polonais, "Polish" | OED, MW |
| Polonium | Chemical element with atomic number 84 | Medieval Latin Polonia, "Poland" | AHD |
| Polska | A Scandinavian folk dance or a piece of music for such a dance | Swedish polska ← feminine of polsk, "Polish" | MW |
| Poulaine | (The pointed toe of) a crackowe | Middle French (soulier à la) poulaine, "Polish (style shoe)" ← feminine of poulain, "Polish" | MW |
| Silesaurus | An extinct genus of dinosauriform reptiles from the Late Triassic | Medieval Latin Silesia ← Polish Śląsk, a region in south-western Poland + Classical Greek saura, "lizard" | [citation needed] |
| Varsoviana, varsovienne | A graceful dance similar to a mazurka | Spanish varsoviana ← feminine of varsoviano; French varsovienne ← feminine of varsovien; both from Medieval Latin varsovianus, "of Warsaw" (Polish: Warszawa), the capital city of Poland | MW |
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References
- AHD, "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language". Boston: Houghton Mifflin; New York: Battleby.com. 2000. http://dictionary.reference.com/. Retrieved 2009-12-02. (included in Dictionary.com)
- EB-1911, "The Wikisource 1911 encyclopedia project". Wikisource. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclopædia_Britannica. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- OED, Herper, Douglas (November 2001). "Online Etymology Dictionary". http://www.etymonline.com/. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- MW, "Merriam-Webster Online". Merriam-Webster. http://m-w.com/. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- (Polish) SWO, "Słownik wyrazów obcych". Polish Scientific Publishers PWN. 1995. http://swo.pwn.pl/. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
See also
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Look up Category:Polish derivations or Polish derivations in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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