Appendix:English Wanderwörter
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A Wanderwort or wanderword is a wordform which has spread over a substantial area, or to many regions, outside of that of its language of origin, typically due to cultural exchange resulting from travel and trade. This appendix lists English Wanderwörter with short etymologies.
List[edit]
| English word | Etymology |
|---|---|
| copper | Ancient Greek Κύπρος (Kúpros, “Cyprus”) → Latin Cyprus → Late Latin cuprum → Proto-West Germanic *kop(p)r→ Old English copor → Middle English coper |
| ginger | Proto-Dravidian *cinki-wēr → Sanskrit शृङ्गवेर (śṛṅgavera) → Prakrit 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀕𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭 (siṃgivera) → Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis) → Latin zingiberi, gingiber → Old English gingifer → Middle English gingivere, gingere |
| orange | Sanskrit नारङ्ग (nāraṅga) → Classical Persian نارنگ (nārang) → Arabic نَارَنْج (nāranj) → Italian arancia → Old French orenge → Middle English orenge, orange |
| silver | Proto-Germanic *silubrą → Proto-West Germanic *silubr → Old English seolfor, seolofor → Middle English silver, selver, sulver.
Compare German Silber, Dutch zilver, Swedish silver, Danish sølv; Proto-Slavic *sьrebro (with descendants in extant Slavic languages); Celtiberian silabur "money"; and Basque zilar. |
| sugar | Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ (“gravel, boulder”) → Sanskrit शर्करा (śarkarā, “ground or candied sugar”)→ Persian شکر (šakar) → Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar) → Old Italian zucchero → Old French çucre → Middle English sucre, sugre |