Loanword
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Pronunciation /ˈloʊnˌwɝd/ · Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Loanword is a noun meaning A word directly taken into one language from another one.
Meaning
A word directly taken into one language from another one.
Example Sentences
"Calque" is a loanword with French origins, and "loanword" is a calque with German origins.
This searching was facilitated by the author's knowledge of the vagaries of Anglo-Indian spelling and the numerous colonial-era transliteration systems used for loanwords from Indian languages.
Indeed, in 1957 Xenophon Zolotas, the then governor of the Bank of Greece, gave two speeches to the IMF that contained just Greek loanwords apart from the inevitable basic English. (Example: “Our policies should be based more on economic and less on political criteria.”)
New words, and particularly loanwords, are simplified, and hence naturalized in American much more quickly than in English. Employé has long since become employee in our newspapers, and asphalte has lost its final e, and manœuvre has become maneuver, and pyjamas has become pajamas.
Word Forms
- loanwords
- loan word
Synonyms for loanword
Depending on context, synonyms include borrowing, gainword, loan.
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include loan, borrowing, onloan, on-loan, lend, loanee.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.