| loanword |
| Definition - A word taken directly from another language. Notes: 1. As opposed to a loan translation, which is a word derived from another language through a part-for-part translation, and a loan blend, which is a word that was coined by combining a foreign word with a native word. 2. The different stages of loanword assimilation are designated by the terms Gaswort, Fremdvort, and Lenvort. |
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Example - The word wigwam is an Algonquian word that directly entered English in the 17th century. |
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Etymology - The term loanword was coined as a loan translation of the German Lehnwort. |
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Oxford English Dictionary - Its first citation is from 1874: "*Loan-words are common to all dialects." Note: evidently the term loanword entered English before the term loan translation; the latter's first citation is from 1933. (Sayce, Comparative Philology, volume 171) |
