List of English words of Polish origin

An example of polonism in the English language: the word "wenzel" (Polish: Węzeł, "knot").

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, 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.

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
Baba/Babka cake A leavened coffee or rum cake flavored with orange rind, rum, almonds, and raisins Polish babka ("yeast cake"), or diminutive of baba ("old woman") AHD
Borscht Beetroot soup Polish barszcz
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") [1]
Bryndza Polish traditional cheese Polish traditional crumby type cheese
Intelligentsia Educated social class Polish inteligencja
Kasha Buckwheat grain porridge type Polish kasza
Kabanos Type of thin dry sausage Polish kabanos
Kevlar Synthetic fiber From the name of Stephanie Kwolek, Polish scientist
Kielbasa A seasoned smoked Polish sausage Polish kiełbasa ("sausage") ← Turkish kül bassï ("grilled cutlet") ← Turkic kül bastï: kül ("coals, ashes") + bastï, ("pressed (meat)") from basmaq ("to press");
Klotski A sliding block puzzle Polish klocki, plural of klocek ("toy block") [citation needed]
Konik A horse breed Polish konik, diminutive of koń ("horse") [citation needed]
Krakowiak Polish national dance Polish national dance from Krakow
Krówka Polish fudge type sweet Diminutive of krowa, "cow"
Kujawiak Polish national dance From the Polish region of Kujawy
Makowiec Type of rolled cake/bread From Polish mak ("poppyseed")
Mazurka Polish national dance From the Polish region of Mazowsze
Mazurka Type of cake Polish cake from the Mazowsze region
Mazurka Classical music piece created by F.Chopin Polish mazurek
Marrowsky Dated - A spoonerism A Polish count's surname OED
Oberek Polish national dance Polish oberek
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
Oscypek Polish traditional smoked cheese Polish oscypek smoked cheese from the Tatra region
Pączki 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
Polish notation Mathematical notation of operators/PN/NPN Lukasiewicz notation
Rendzina Type of soils From Old Polish rędzic to talk/tell
Rogal Polish crescent roll Polish rogal - from róg, "horn"
Sejm Polish diet or parliament Polish sejm ("diet, assembly") OED
Solidarnosc Political movement Polish solidarność ("solidarity")
Spruce A type coniferous tree Polish liet. z Prus, "from Prussia"
Starka Aged strong alcohol Polish stary, "old"
Zloty Polish currency Polish złoty ("golden"), from złoto ("gold") ← Proto-Indo-European ghel AHD
Zubr European bison living in Poland's primeval forest Polish żubr, European bison
Żurek Polish traditional sour type soup Polish żurek

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 compel") ← 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 Old Polish kwardy (modern Polish twardy) AHD, OED
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
Vampire Mythical creature Polish "wampir, from Proto-Polish "wąpierz", it's the most archaic form of the word, entered English via German "Vampire" in the 18th century.[citation needed][failed verification]
Vodka Alcoholic drink Polish wódka, diminutive of woda, "water", invented in pagan Poland, word itself was adopted from Russian[2][3]

Derived from geographic names and ethnonyms

See also: Name of Poland
Word Meaning Etymology References
Alla polacca Like a polonaise (in musical notation) Italian alla polacca, "in the Polish manner, Polish style" MW[permanent dead link‍]
Bialy A flat, round baked roll or bagel topped with onion flakes Polish bialy ← "white" short for bialystoker, "of Białystok", a town in northeastern Poland AHD, MW
Cracovian A mathematical symbol used in cracovian calculus Polish krakowian ← Cracow, a city in southern Poland, former capital [citation needed]
Cracovienne, krakowiak A lively Polish folk dance French (danse) cracovienne, "Kraków (dance)", feminine of cracovien, "of Cracow"; Polish krakowiak, "inhabitant of Kraków" 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 One of Polish 5 national dances, or a piece of music for such a dance from Polish (tańczyć) mazurka, "(to dance) the mazurka", accusative of mazurek ← diminutive of Mazur, "inhabitant of Masovia or Masuria", regions in northeastern 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 Ceremonial, stately, marchlike Polish dance, one of the 5 national dances of Poland,

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 sauce a la polonaise, feminine of polonais, "Polish" OED, MW Archived 2008-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
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
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

See also

References

  1. ^ "Britzska" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 618.
  2. ^ "vodka | Etymology, origin and meaning of vodka by etymonline". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Vodka". vodka – Oxford Reference. Oxford Reference. January 2003. ISBN 978-0-19-283098-2. Retrieved 9 June 2022.

Sources