List of English words of Scandinavian origin

This is a list of English words that are probably of modern Scandinavian origin. This list excludes words borrowed directly from Old Norse; for those, see list of English words of Old Norse origin.

English words of Scandinavian origin

• cog
• cosy
• flounder
• hug
• lug
• scree
• snug
• torsk, "codfish"
• wicker

English words of Danish origin

• aquavit, "a clear Scandinavian liquor flavored with caraway seeds" ^[1]
• fjeld, "a barren plateau of the Scandinavian upland" ^[2]
• flense, "to strip of blubber or skin" ^[3]
• scrike, "shriek" ^[4]
• torsk, "codfish" ^[5]

English words of Norwegian origin

• aquavit, "a clear Scandinavian liquor flavored with caraway seeds" ^[6]
• brisling, "sprat" ^[7]
• fjord, "a narrow inlet of the sea between cliffs or steep slopes" ^[8]
• flense, "to strip of blubber or skin" ^[9]
• floe, "floating ice formed in a large sheet on the surface of a body of water" ^[10]
• gravlax, "salmon cured especially with salt, sugar, pepper, and dill and often additional ingredients (such as fennel, coriander, lime, and vodka or aquavit)" ^[11]
• klister, "a soft wax used on skis" ^[12]
• krill, "planktonic crustaceans and their larvae (order or suborder Euphausiacea and especially genus Euphausia) that constitute the principal food of baleen whales" ^[13]
• lemming, "any of various small short-tailed furry-footed rodents (such as genera Lemmus and Dicrostonyx) of circumpolar distribution that are notable for population fluctuations and recurrent mass migrations" ^[14]
• lefse, "a large thin potato pancake served buttered and folded" ^[15]
• lutefisk, "dried codfish that has been soaked in a water and lye solution before cooking" ^[16]
• murk, "gloom, darkness; c. 1300, myrke, from Old Norse myrkr 'darkness,' from Proto-Germanic *merkwjo, Danish mǿrk 'darkness'," ^[17]
• murky, "dark, obscure, gloomy; mid-14c., from murk + -y," ^[18]
• scrike, "shriek" ^[19]
• ski, "one of a pair of narrow strips of wood, metal, or plastic curving upward in front that are used especially for gliding over snow" ^[20]
• slalom, "skiing in a zigzag or wavy course between upright obstacles (such as flags)" ^[21]
• telemark, "a turn in skiing in which the outside ski is advanced considerably ahead of the other ski and then turned inward at a steadily widening angle until the turn is complete" ^[22]
• torsk, "codfish" ^[23]

See also

• List of English words of Old Norse origin
• Lists of English words by country or language of origin
• List of English words of Swedish origin

References

1. "Definition of AQUAVIT". 12 March 2024.
2. "Definition of FJELD".
3. "Definition of FLENSE".
4. "Definition of SCRIKE".
5. "Definition of TORSK".
6. "Definition of AQUAVIT". 12 March 2024.
7. "Definition of BRISLING".
8. "Definition of FJORD". January 2024.
9. "Definition of FLENSE".
10. "Definition of FLOE". 2 January 2024.
11. "Definition of GRAVLAX". 27 April 2025.
12. "Definition of KLISTER".
13. "Definition of KRILL". 21 December 2023.
14. "Definition of LEMMING". 29 December 2023.
15. "Definition of LEFSE".
16. "Definition of LUTEFISK".
17. </ "Murk | Etymology of murk by etymonline".
18. "Murky/ | Search Online Etymology Dictionary".
19. "Definition of SCRIKE".
20. "Definition of SKI". 2 January 2024.
21. "Definition of SLALOM". 20 November 2023.
22. "Definition of TELEMARK". 27 February 2024.
23. "Definition of TORSK".