Turkish Delights... Lexically Speaking Quiz

Answer: yogurt

First used in English in 1625, yogurt is a word borrowed from Turkish that has kept its original form and meaning. This tangy, fermented dairy product, a staple in the cuisines of many European and Asian countries, was already known to the Ancient Greeks, and mentioned by Pliny the Elder. However, it only became popular in the West in the early 20th century. The word is related to the Turkish verb "yoghurmak", meaning to knead or thicken.

As the consumption of fermented dairy products (often made with mare's milk) was common among nomadic Turkic people, the names of other similar products - such as ayran, kefir and kumis - are also of Turkic origin.

Answer: kiosk

Kiosk is one of the many words of Persian origin that entered Turkish in the early Ottoman era. Though it originally meant portico, in Ottoman Turkey the word "köşk" came to denote a garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Later these buildings evolved in small but luxurious residences, such as those found within Istanbul's Topkapı palace.

As it is often the case with words of foreign origin, kiosk came into English through French, being first attested in the 1620s. Besides its original meaning of pavilion or summerhouse, it also refers to a small open structure used for the sale of merchandise - frequently found in city streets and squares, or within a shopping mall. In modern English, kiosk is also used to denote an interactive computer screen that provides a service or information.

Answer: horde

In Turkish and other Turkic languages, "orda" or "ordu" had the literal meaning of army or royal camp. It also denoted a social and military structure typical of the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian Steppe, in particular those of Turkic or Mongolian ethnicity. In the 13th century, one of the large khanates that were established after the breakup of the Mongol Empire became known as the Golden Horde ("Altan Orda"). The name of the Indo-Aryan language Urdu, spoken in India and Pakistan, is derived from the Turkic word.

First attested in English in the mid-16th century, horde was indirectly borrowed from the Polish "horda" (hence the initial "h"), initially meaning tribe or band society. In modern English, however, horde is most often used to mean a large, unruly group of people - such as shoppers before Christmas or tourists visiting popular sights. Horde is often confused with its homophone hoard, which has a different etymology and meaning.

Answer: divan

The original meaning of divan in Persian - from which it was borrowed by Turkish - was that of register or account book. In Ottoman Turkey, the word came to denote the Empire's privy council, and eventually the long, cushioned benches placed against the walls of the chambers where the council met.

Divan first entered English around 1580 in the meaning of council chamber, while its furniture-related meaning dates from the early 18th century. The third meaning reported by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, that of a collection of poems usually by one author (thus closest to the word's original sense), dates from the late 18th century.

Answer: coffee

Coffee may be the most famous of all Turkish loanwords in English - or other European languages for that matter. The history of this word is a fascinating one. Though derived from the Arabic "qahwah" (believed to mean wine or dark-coloured), both the bracing brew and the word denoting it came to Europe from Ottoman Turkey, where the first coffeehouses opened in the mid-16th century, quickly gaining popularity throughout the Empire

In the early years of the 17th century, the Turkish word "kahve" was first adopted as "caffè" in Italian (as some of Europe's earliest coffeehouses were established in Venice), and then in English as the word we all know and love (unless, of course, we prefer tea or other beverages).

Answer: odalisque

A favourite subject of 19th-century art (as in a famous 1814 painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres), in the West an odalisque was identified with a concubine in an Eastern harem, and was usually depicted naked or very scantily dressed. However, the Turkish "odalık" has the much less titillating meaning of chambermaid - "oda" being the word for chamber or room. The original odalisques were slaves who served the harem ladies as personal maids, and very rarely (if ever) became concubines.

The English word odalisque was borrowed from French in the late 17th century. According to some sources, the original Turkish suffix "-ik" (indicating function) was confused with the Greek suffix "-iskos" (pertaining to, belonging to) - hence the presence of an S.

Answer: ottoman

Denoting an upholstered bench, stool or footstool that may double up as a storage container, an ottoman is a popular piece of living room or bedroom furniture. While the English word was borrowed from the French "ottomane" (a feminine form), the item itself is of Turkish origin. In the days of the Ottoman Empire, it was a low, padded platform that lined three walls of a room - much like a modern-day sectional couch; subsequently evolved in a smaller piece of furniture that would fit in a corner.

The name applied to both the Empire and the furniture item - which was introduced in Europe in the 18th century - comes from the name of Othman (pronounced in Turkish as Osman), the founder of the dynasty that ruled Turkey and other parts of the Old World for nearly six centuries.

Answer: yurt

Called "ger" in Mongolian, a yurt is a portable domed tent, traditionally made of felt or animal skins and stretched over a collapsible wooden frame. Still used by the nomadic peoples of Central Asia, yurts are well-insulated from the region's harsh climate, and relatively quick to set up. They can usually accommodate up to 15 people. The roof crown of a yurt appears in the centre of the flag of Kyrgyzstan.

First attested in English in the 1870s, yurt means dwelling place in Proto-Turkic; in modern Turkish, it has acquired the meaning of homeland or shelter. According to most sources, English borrowed the word from the Russian "jurta" rather than Turkish or other Turkic languages.

Answer: lackey

A number of ifferent etymologies have been suggested for lackey, which came into English from the French "laquais", being first attested in the 1520s. The most likely of these etymologies posits that the word has its origins in the Turkish "ulak", meaning courier or messenger - which would suit its original meaning of valet or footman. This word became "lakes" in Greek and "lacchè" in Italian before entering French.

Another etymology fits the derogatory sense that the word lackey has acquired in modern English - that of a servile follower - by tracing its origin to the Old Provençal "lecai", meaning glutton, related to the verb "lecar" (to lick).

Answer: tulip

Both the word tulip and the beautiful flower it denotes have their origins in Ottoman Turkey. In the 15th century, tulips (which are native to Western and Central Asia) became one of the symbols of the Ottoman Empire. From there, in the mid-16th century, they were introduced to Western Europe, in particular to the Netherlands, a country that has become closely associated with them.

The Latin name for the species, Tulipa, is widely thought to have come from the Turkish "tülbent", meaning turban - the traditional cloth headgear worn by men, in particular high-ranking ones - because of the resemblance between the two items. The Turkish word itself comes from the Persian "dolband". Tulip was first attested in English in the late 16th century. In languages such as Italian and Spanish, the words for tulip ("tulipano" and "tulipán") have preserved the ending of the original Turkish word.