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Borrowed Words and Phrases

Fun Trivia : Quizzes : Humanities : English : Borrowed Words and Phrases

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English has borrowed many words from other languages. Here you'll find quizzes on many of these words.
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1 Sources of English: Latin coolicon
Already when still living on the Continent the Anglo-Saxon tribes had picked up many words from their Roman enemies. Then came Church Latin. The Norman Conquest added large portions of French. But then there was the Renaissance. See for yourself.
 Average 10 qns
7254 plays
 Mar 26 02
flem-ish
2 Borrowed English Words from Japanese coolicon
You may not have realized it, but the Japanese language has helped play its part in shaping the English language vocabulary. Here are 10 examples of this phenomenon...enjoy and learn!
 Average 10 qns
5148 plays
 Jul 30 02
thejazzkickazz gold
3 Borrowed English Words from Arabic coolicon
You may not be aware of it, but English has many borrowed words from languages throughout the world! Quite a number of English words come originally from Arabic. See if you can figure out which ones are from Arabic below...good luck!
 Difficult 10 qns
2568 plays
 Dec 05 02
thejazzkickazz gold
4 What Language Did These Words Come From? coolicon
This is a quiz on etymology- the origin of some common words. From what languages did these words originate?
 Average 15 qns
7215 plays
 Apr 13 00
crisw editor
5 Common Foreign Words And Phrases 5. coolicon
Common foreign words and phrases are borrowed from other languages. How many of them do you know? Good Luck!
 Easy 10 qns
3363 plays
 May 19 07
Soozy_woozy gold
6 Common Foreign Words And Phrases 3. coolicon
Many words and phrases from other languages are used in our everyday conversations and literature. How many of these do you know? Good Luck!
 Average 10 qns
2862 plays
 May 01 07
Soozy_Woozy gold
7 Common Foreign Words And Phrases coolicon
Many words, phrases and quotations from foreign languages are commonly used in our books, magazines and everyday conversation. How many of these do you know? Good Luck!
 Easy 15 qns
3249 plays
 Mar 15 07
Soozy_Woozy gold
8 Common Foreign Words And Phrases 7 icon
Common foreign words and phrases are borrowed from other languages. How many of them do you know? Good Luck!
 Easy 10 qns
1980 plays
 Jun 23 07
Soozy_Woozy gold
9 Common Foreign Words And Phrases 10 icon
Many words, phrases and quotations from foreign languages are commonly used in our books, magazines and everyday conversation. How many of these do you know? Good Luck!
 Easy 10 qns
1698 plays
 Nov 11 07
soozy_woozy gold
10 Common Foreign Words And Phrases 4 icon
All these common, foreign words and phrases are borrowed from other languages. How many of these do you know? Good Luck!
 Easy 10 qns
1782 plays
 May 11 07
Soozy_woozy gold
11 Common Foreign Words And Phrases 9 icon
Many words, phrases and quotations from foreign languages, are commonly used in our books, magazines and everyday conversations. How many of these do you know? Good Luck!
 Average 10 qns
1629 plays
 Jul 27 07
soozy_woozy gold
12 Words of Indian Origin icon
"Jungle", "Bungalow" and "Thug" apart, there are approximately 700 words of Indian origin in the English language. Here are some of the less well known ones.
 Average 10 qns
1626 plays
 Sep 29 04
almaster
13 Arabic Words In English icon
The influence of Arabic civilisation on Europe can hardly be underestimated. It left traces in most West- European languages, and English is no exception to this. See what you can identify.
 Tough 10 qns
3630 plays
 Sep 02 02
flem-ish
14 Common Foreign Words And Phrases 6 icon
Common foreign words and phrases are borrowed from other languages. How many of them do you know? Good luck!
 Average 10 qns
1452 plays
 Jun 14 07
soozy_woozy gold
15 Common Foreign Words And Phrases 8 icon
Common foreign words and phrases are borrowed from other languages. How many of them do you know? Good Luck!
 Average 10 qns
1329 plays
 Jul 04 07
soozy_woozy gold
16 Common Foreign Words And Phrases 2. icon
All these common, foreign words and phrases are borrowed from other languages. How many of these do you know? Bonne Chance!
 Average 10 qns
2262 plays
 Apr 25 07
Soozy_Woozy gold
17 Oy! Yiddish! icon
Yiddish is now an inseparable part of our lexicon. See how much you know, oy gevalt!
 Average 10 qns
2757 plays
 Jan 10 01
tjoebigham
18 Greek and Latin in Disguise
English vocabulary being already a mix of Anglo-Saxon and Norman-French, we sometimes forget there was actually added a lot of Greek and Latin to the melting pot as well. See how transparent these 'inkhorn' terms are to you.
 Average 10 qns
4659 plays
 Jan 26 02
flem-ish
19 Borrowed English Words from Chinese icon
Not a lot of words in English have come via the Chinese language, but there are a few. In fact...at least 10, as we shall see below...enjoy!
 Difficult 10 qns
1545 plays
 Jul 28 02
thejazzkickazz gold
20 Foreign Words That Have Crossed Over icon
Many foreign words have been incorporated into the English language. Here are a few that come to us from the French and German.
 Average 10 qns
6837 plays
 Feb 18 01
robert362
21 German Words in English icon
English has borrowed very few words from modern German, but there are some. In each case, pick the English word or phrase that provides the *best* definition or explanation. Have fun!
 Average 10 qns
3768 plays
 May 02 01
bloomsby editor
22 Foreign Words in English icon
We know them; we use them; but are they English? English is the current language number one and many other languages borrow English words. Nevertheless, English also has adopted foreign words. What do you know about them? Have a fun!
 Difficult 10 qns
1080 plays
 Aug 09 08
marvo1330 gold
23 Borrowed English Words from Italian icon
Of course Italian, being one of the Romance languages, has made a big impact on the English language. Find out, in part, just how significant this impact has been by attempting these ten questions...buona fortuna!
 Tough 10 qns
1584 plays
 Jun 29 03
thejazzkickazz gold
24 Foreigners in the English Language
No language can do without the benefit of 'free import' of new words from its neighbours. Especially not a world-language like English. Just see if you can 'identify' these foreigners in disguise.
 Average 10 qns
3762 plays
 Sep 05 01
chrissie_26
25 English Borrowings icon
Few languages have so gluttonously borrowed words from others languages than English.This may have been because of the 'British Empire' , but did not end with its demise.But let's be fair:there was no bigger 'lender' than English itself.
 Difficult 10 qns
4095 plays
 Mar 26 02
flem-ish
26 More Words of Indian Origin icon
Given the good reception that the first quiz on words of Indian origin had, here's another one on the contributions of Indian languages to English.
 Average 10 qns
813 plays
 Oct 15 04
almaster
27 Its All Greek To Me
When scholars and scientists need new terminology they often draw on Latin and Greek, which may give outsiders the feeling they dont dare to call a spade a spade .E.g. a simple ear infection = 'otitis'. This quiz deals with such 'creations'.
 Tough 10 qns
1476 plays
 Oct 05 01
flem-ish
28 Your (Latin) Roots Are Showing! icon
You'd be surprised how many words we use in English today that haven't changed much in the last few thousand years!
 Average 10 qns
1383 plays
 Jan 21 05
ilyahna
29 Killer Words From Latin
Anthrax kills people. -People using anthrax to kill people are HOMICIDES. -Stuff that kills anthrax is called ANTHRACOCIDE. -Want to test your knowledge on the other -cides?
 Average 10 qns
2904 plays
 Oct 27 01
flem-ish
30 Cool Phrases
Cool words you can incorporate into everyday confabulations. Enjoy!
 Difficult 5 qns
2415 plays
 Oct 06 00
thejazzkickazz gold
This is category 4563

Some sample questions from this category:

* Suae quisque fortunae faber est
* What is the original meaning of kosher?
* What does the German word, 'zeitgeist', mean?
* Another German word that has 'crossed over' is 'weltschmerz'. What does it mean?
* The French concept of 'savoir-faire' is commonly used. What does it mean?


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