List of English words of Polish origin
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 or West European languages, such as 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.
"Kielbasa" derives from a generic Polish word for a sausage, which is ultimately from either Turkic or Hebrew.
Derived from common words
Directly
The following words are derive directly from Polish. Some of them are loanwords in Polish itself.
| Word | Meaning | Etymology | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babka / Baba | A leavened coffee or rum cake flavored with orange rind, rum, almonds, and raisins | Polish / Ukrainian babka, ("yeast cake"), diminutive of baba ("old woman") | AHD |
| Bigos | A Polish stew made with meat and cabbage | Polish bigos ← German begossen ("doused"), or German blei + guss ("lead pieces") | SWO |
| Britzka | A type of horse-drawn carriage | Polish bryczka, diminutive of bryka ("wagon") | EB-1911 |
| Kielbasa | A spicy smoked Polish sausage | Polish kiełbasa ("sausage") ← Turkish kül bassï ("grilled cutlet") ← Turkic kül bastï: kül ("coals, ashes") + bastï, ("pressed (meat)") from basmaq ("to press"); or from Hebrew kolbasar ("all kinds of meat") | AHD, OED |
| Klotski | A sliding block puzzle | Polish klocki, plural of klocek ("toy block") | |
| Konik | A horse breed | Polish konik, diminutive of koń ("horse") | |
| Marrowsky | Dated - A spoonerism | A Polish count's surname | OED |
| 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 |
| Paczki | A Polish jam-filled doughnut | Polish pączki, plural of pączek ← diminutive of pąk ("bud") | AHD |
| Pierogi | A semicircular dumpling of unleavened dough with any of various fillings | Polish pierogi, plural of pieróg ("pie") ← Russian pirog ← Old Russian pirogŭ, from pirŭ ("feast") ← Proto-Slavic *pirŭ ← Proto-Indo-European *pō(i)- | AHD |
| Sejm | Polish diet or parliament | Polish sejm ("diet, assembly") | OED |
| Zloty | Polish currency | Polish złoty ("golden"), from złoto ("gold") ← Proto-Indo-European ghel | AHD |
Indirectly
The following words are derived from Polish via third languages.
| Word | Meaning | Etymology | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hetman | Historical - Polish, Czech or Cossack military leader | Ukrainian гетьман, het'man ← Polish hetman ← Czech hejtman ← dialectical German hötmann, hetmann (modern Hauptmann) ← Middle High German houbet ("head/high") + man ("man") | AHD |
| Horde | A nomadic tribe; a crowd or swarm | German 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 cucumber | Early 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 person | variant 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 compell") ← Proto-Slavic *nuda ← Proto-Indo-European *neuti- (“need”), from *nau- ("death, to be exhausted") | AHD |
| Quartz | A hard white or colorless mineral | German Quarz ← dialectical Polish or other Slavic kwardy (modern Polish twardy) | AHD, OED |
| Rendzina | A dark, grayish-brown soil that develops under grass on limestone and chalk | Russian rendzina/rendsina ("lime-rich soil") ← Polish rędzina ← unknown origin | AHD, ESS, M-W |
| Schav, schaf | A sorrel soup | Yiddish שטשאַוו, shtshav ("sorrel") ← Polish szczaw | AHD |
| Schlub, shlub | A clumsy, stupid or unattractive person | Yiddish zhlob/zhlub, "yokel", "boor" ← Polish żłób ("trough, blockhead") | AHD, MW |
| Schmatte, shmatte | A rag | Yiddish shmate ← Polish szmata | AHD |
| Schmuck, shmuck | A clumsy or stupid person | Yiddish 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, ulan | A cavalryman | German Uhlan ← Polish ułan ← Turkish oğlan("boy, youth" / "servant"), from oǧul ("son") ← Old Turkic | AHD, MW |
Derived from geographic names and ethnonyms
| Word | Meaning | Etymology | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alla polacca | Like a polonaise (in musical notation) | Italian alla polacca, "in the Polish manner, Polish style" | MW |
| Bialy | A flat, round baked roll or bagel topped with onion flakes | Yiddish bialy ← short for bialystoker, "of Białystok", a town in north-eastern Poland | AHD, MW |
| Cracovian | A mathematical symbol used in cracovian calculus | Polish krakowian ← Cracow, a city in southern Poland, former capital | |
| Cracovienne, krakowiak | A lively Polish folk dance | French (danse) cracovienne, "Kraków (dance)", feminine of cracovien, "of Cracow"; Polish krakowiak, "inhabitant of Cracow" | MW: cracovienne, MW: krakowiak |
| Crackowe, cracowe, crakow | A 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 people | Polish Czech, "a Czech or Bohemian man" ← Czech Čech | AHD |
| Mazurka | A Polish dance or a piece of music for such a dance | Russian мазурка, mazurka ← Polish (tańczyć) mazurka, "(to dance) the mazurka", accusative of mazurek ← diminutive of Mazur, "inhabitant of Masovia or Masuria", regions in north-eastern 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 | A stately, marchlike Polish dance 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 century | French (robe à la) polonaise, "Polish (style dress)", feminine of polonais, "Polish" | OED |
| Polonaise | Sprinkled with browned butter and bread crumbs (of food, mostly vegetables) | French polonaise, feminine of polonais, "Polish" | OED, MW |
| 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 |
| ruddy colour | (The ginger, reddish, rusty colour) | in Polish rudy is a ginger, reddish, rusty colour, gender variants Rudy, ruda, rude | | |
| 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 mazurka | Spanish varsoviana ← feminine of varsoviano; French varsovienne ← feminine of varsovien; both from Medieval Latin varsovianus, "of Warsaw" (Polish: Warszawa), the capital city of Poland | MW |
References
- AHD, "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language". Boston: Houghton Mifflin; New York: Battleby.com. 2000. Retrieved 2009-12-02. (included in Dictionary.com)
- EB-1911, "The Wikisource 1911 encyclopedia project". Wikisource. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- OED, Herper, Douglas (November 2001). "Online Etymology Dictionary". Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- MW, "Merriam-Webster Online". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- (in Polish) SWO, "Słownik wyrazów obcych". Polish Scientific Publishers PWN. 1995. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
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