loanword

IPA/ˈləʊnwɜːd/
IPA/ˈləʊnwɜːrd/

loanword — noun

  • loanwordsingular
  • loanwordsplural

1. a word that has been taken from one language and is used in another, often becau

1.nounB2
Definition

a word that has been taken from one language and is used in another, often because the borrowing language has no word of its own for that thing or idea

Example

"Sushi" is a Japanese loanword that English speakers use for raw fish on rice.

loanword + from [language]: 'sushi' is a Japanese loanword

The English teacher explained that "kindergarten" started as a German loanword.

Common collocations
  • a loanword from [language]
  • borrow a loanword
  • adopt a loanword
  • a French/German/Japanese loanword
  • a recent loanword
  • enter the language as a loanword
Synonyms
  • borrowing

    the process, rather than the specific word; 'borrowing from French' vs 'a French loanword'

  • adopted word

    less common; emphasises that the word has been fully accepted into the new language

  • foreign borrowing

    more technical; used in formal linguistics writing

Antonyms
  • native word

    a word that originated within the language itself rather than being borrowed

Usage Note

Loanwords are different from cognates (words in different languages that share a historical origin). Loanwords are consciously adopted, whereas cognates develop from a shared ancestor language. The term is most common in linguistics and language-learning contexts.

Common Mistakes

The word "piano" is a borrowed loanword from Italian.
The word "piano" is a loanword from Italian.
'Loanword' already implies borrowing; saying 'borrowed loanword' is redundant.
English has many loanwords from other languages, such as "water" and "mother".
English has many loanwords from other languages, such as "ballet" and "safari".
'Water' and 'mother' are native Old English words, not loanwords.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A loanword is a word borrowed from another language with its form and meaning largely intact — 'piano' from Italian, 'tsunami' from Japanese. A borrowing can refer either to the word itself or to the process of adopting it ('English has heavy borrowing from French'). Foreign borrowing is a more technical synonym used in academic linguistics papers. A calque (or loan translation) is different: instead of taking the foreign word, the receiving language translates each part literally — for example, English 'skyscraper' is a calque of the French 'gratte-ciel' (literally 'scrape-sky'). While 'sushi' is a loanword, 'flea market' from French 'marché aux puces' is a calque. Learners should remember: if the word sounds and looks foreign, it is a loanword; if it is a native-sounding translation of a foreign expression, it is a calque.

loanword ↗borrowing ↗foreign borrowingcalque ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • a loanword from
  • consist of loanwords
  • enter a language as a loanword

Prepositions

Etymology

GermanEnglish

A compound formed within English: 'loan' (something borrowed) + 'word' (a unit of language). The term was coined in the late 19th century (first recorded around 1888) as a translation of the German 'Lehnwort', which German linguists had been using for decades to describe words adopted from other languages. Before 'loanword' became standard, English scholars used phrases like 'borrowed word' or 'adopted foreign word'.