List of English words of Polish origin

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

An example of polonism in the English language: the word "wenzel" (Polish: Wezel
, "knot"). Monogram of Catherine the Great.jpg
An example of polonism in the English language: the word "wenzel" (Polish : Węzeł, "knot").

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, 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.

Contents

Derived from common words

Directly

The following words are derive directly from Polish. Some of them are loanwords in Polish itself.

WordMeaningEtymologyReferences
Baba/Babka cake A leavened coffee or rum cake flavored with orange rind, rum, almonds, and raisinsPolish babka ("yeast cake"), or diminutive of baba ("old woman") AHD
Borscht Beetroot soupPolish barszcz
Bigos A Polish stew made with meat and cabbagePolish bigosGerman begossen ("doused"), or German blei + guss ("lead pieces") SWO
Britzka A type of horse-drawn carriagePolish bryczka, diminutive of bryka ("wagon") [1]
Bryndza Polish traditional cheesePolish traditional crumby type cheese
Intelligentsia Educated social classPolish inteligencja
Kasha Buckwheat grain porridge typePolish kasza
Kabanos Type of thin dry sausagePolish kabanos
Kevlar Synthetic fiberFrom the name of Stephanie Kwolek, Polish scientist
Kielbasa A seasoned smoked Polish sausagePolish kiełbasa ("sausage") ← Turkish kül bassï ("grilled cutlet") ← Turkic kül bastï: kül ("coals, ashes") + bastï, ("pressed (meat)") from basmaq ("to press");
Klotski A sliding block puzzlePolish klocki, plural of klocek ("toy block")[ citation needed ]
Konik A horse breedPolish konik, diminutive of koń ("horse")[ citation needed ]
Krakowiak Polish national dancePolish national dance from Krakow
Krówka Polish fudge type sweetDiminutive of krowa, "cow"
Kujawiak Polish national danceFrom the Polish region of Kujawy
Makowiec Type of rolled cake/breadFrom Polish mak ("poppyseed")
Mazurka Polish national danceFrom the Polish region of Mazowsze
Mazurka Type of cakePolish cake from the Mazowsze region
Mazurka Classical music piece created by F.ChopinPolish mazurek
Marrowsky Dated - A spoonerismA Polish count's surname OED
Oberek Polish national dancePolish oberek
Ogonek A hook-shaped diacritic Polish ogonek ← diminutive of ogon ("tail") ← Proto-Slavic *ogonŭ (probably originally "that which drives away (flies and the like)"): *o-, ob-, ("around, on") + *goniti ("to push, chase, drive") AHD
Oscypek Polish traditional smoked cheesePolish oscypek smoked cheese from the Tatra region
Pączki A Polish jam-filled doughnutPolish pączki, plural of pączek ← diminutive of pąk ("bud") AHD
Pierogi A semicircular dumpling of unleavened dough with any of various fillingsPolish pierogi, plural of pieróg ("pie") ← Russian pirogOld Russian pirogŭ, from pirŭ ("feast") ← Proto-Slavic *pirŭProto-Indo-European *pō(i)- AHD
Polish notation Mathematical notation of operators/PN/NPNLukasiewicz notation
Rendzina Type of soilsFrom Old Polish rędzic to talk/tell
Rogal Polish crescent rollPolish rogal - from róg, "horn"
Sejm Polish diet or parliamentPolish sejm ("diet, assembly") OED
Solidarnosc Political movementPolish solidarność ("solidarity")
Spruce A type coniferous treePolish liet. z Prus, "from Prussia"
Starka Aged strong alcoholPolish stary, "old"
Zloty Polish currencyPolish złoty ("golden"), from złoto ("gold") ← Proto-Indo-European ghel AHD
Zubr European bison living in Poland's primeval forestPolish żubr, European bison
Żurek Polish traditional sour type soupPolish żurek

Indirectly

The following words are derived from Polish via third languages.

WordMeaningEtymologyReferences
Hetman Historical - Polish, Czech or Cossack military leader Ukrainian гетьман, het'man ← Polish hetmanCzech hejtman ← dialectical German hötmann, hetmann (modern Hauptmann) ← Middle High German houbet ("head/high") + man ("man") AHD
Horde A nomadic tribe; a crowd or swarmGerman Horde ← Polish horda ← Ukrainian горда/gorda ← Russian орда (ordá) ← Mongol or North-West Turkic ordï ("camp", "residence") ← Old Turkic ordu ("encampment, residence, court") AHD
Gherkin A small cucumberEarly Modern Dutch gurkijn (Modern gurkje), diminutive of gurk (+ kijn), aphetic variant of agurk, or possibly via Dutch agurken, plural of agurk, taken to English as singular a gurken, from Dutch agurk, variant of augurk ← German Gurken, plural of Gurk ← Slavic source, i.e. Polish ogórek, partial translation (with diminutive suffix -ek) of Byzantine Greek angourion ("watermelon, gherkin"), from diminutive of Late Greek angouros ("a grape(s)"), meaning "small, unripe fruit," from expressive alteration of Greek aōros ("out of season, unripe") ← Proto Indo-European AHD, OED
Nudnick / Nudnik A bore; a boring personvariant English noodnik ← Yiddish nudne + diminutive suffix -nik, from nudyen ("to bore") ← Slavic, either Russian нудный/núdnyj("tedious"), Ukrainian нудний/núdnýj ("tedious"), or Polish nudny ("boring") ← Old Church Slavonic ноудити/nuditi or нѫдити/nǫditi ("to compel") ← Proto-Slavic *nuda ← Proto-Indo-European *neuti- (“need”), from *nau- ("death, to be exhausted") AHD
Quartz A hard white or colorless mineralGerman Quarz ← dialectical Old Polish kwardy (modern Polish twardy) AHD, OED
Schav, schafA sorrel soup Yiddish שטשאַוו, shtshav ("sorrel") ← Polish szczaw AHD
Schlub, shlubA clumsy, stupid or unattractive personYiddish zhlob/zhlub, "yokel", "boor" ← Polish żłób ("trough, blockhead") AHD, MW
Schmatte, shmatteA ragYiddish shmate ← Polish szmata AHD
Schmuck, shmuckA clumsy or stupid personYiddish shmok ("penis, fool") ← probably Old Polish smok ("snake/dragon") or German Schmuck ("Jewellery"); in either case, the German word highly influenced the English spelling. AHD
Uhlan, ulanA cavalrymanGerman Uhlan ← Polish ułan ← Turkish oğlan("boy, youth" / "servant"), from oǧul ("son") ← Old Turkic AHD, MW
Vampire Mythical creaturePolish "wampir, from Proto-Polish "wąpierz", it's the most archaic form of the word, enteredEnglish via German "Vampire" in the 18th century.[ citation needed ][ failed verification ]
Vodka Alcoholic drinkPolish wódka, diminutive of woda, "water", invented in pagan Poland, word itself was adopted from Russian [2] [3]

Derived from geographic names and ethnonyms

WordMeaningEtymologyReferences
Alla polaccaLike a polonaise (in musical notation) Italian alla polacca, "in the Polish manner, Polish style" MW [ permanent dead link ]
Bialy A flat, round baked roll or bagel topped with onion flakes Polish bialy ← "white" short for bialystoker, "of Białystok", a town in northeastern Poland AHD, MW
Cracovian A mathematical symbol used in cracovian calculusPolish krakowianCracow, a city in southern Poland, former capital[ citation needed ]
Cracovienne, krakowiakA lively Polish folk danceFrench (danse) cracovienne, "Kraków (dance)", feminine of cracovien, "of Cracow"; Polish krakowiak, "inhabitant of Kraków" MW: cracovienne, MW: krakowiak
Crackowe, cracowe, crakowA long, pointed shoe popular in the 14th-15th centuries Middle English crakowe ← Cracow, the English name of Kraków MW
Czech Of or related to the Czech Republic or its peoplePolish Czech, "a Czech or Bohemian man" ← Czech Čech AHD
Mazurka One of Polish 5 national dances, or a piece of music for such a dancefrom Polish (tańczyć) mazurka, "(to dance) the mazurka", accusative of mazurek ← diminutive of Mazur, "inhabitant of Masovia or Masuria", regions in northeastern Poland AHD, OED, SWO
Polack A Pole; formerly a neutral term, now considered offensive (see also List of ethnic slurs)Polish Polak, "Pole" AHD, OED
Polonaise Ceremonial, stately, marchlike Polish dance, one of the 5 national dances of Poland,

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 centuryFrench (robe à la) polonaise, "Polish (style dress)", feminine of polonais, "Polish" OED
PolonaiseSprinkled with browned butter and bread crumbs (of food, mostly vegetables)French sauce a la polonaise, feminine of polonais, "Polish" OED, MW Archived 2008-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
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 shoe (see above)Middle French (soulier à la) poulaine, "Polish (style shoe)" ← feminine of poulain, "Polish" MW
Varsoviana, varsovienne A graceful dance similar to a mazurkaSpanish varsoviana ← feminine of varsoviano; French varsovienne ← feminine of varsovien; both from Medieval Latin varsovianus, "of Warsaw" (Polish: Warszawa), the capital city of Poland MW

See also

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References

  1. "Britzska"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 4 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 618.
  2. "vodka | Etymology, origin and meaning of vodka by etymonline". Online Etymology Dictionary . Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  3. "Vodka". vodka – Oxford Reference. Oxford Reference. January 2003. ISBN   978-0-19-283098-2 . Retrieved 9 June 2022.

Sources