Sources of English Vocabulary

This page is part of a publication called Number One ESL Discussion Book & Reference Guide.

Anglo-Saxon/Old English: This is the foundation of the English language, the Germanic languages spoken by the Anglo-Saxons who invaded Britain in the 5th century AD. It provides us with basic words for everyday things and concepts.

Examples: above, alive, apple, awake, axe, back, bath, bed, earth, eat, head, ear, eye, finger, hand, man, woman, work, house, sun, and star

Latin: The language of learning and the Roman Catholic Church, Latin has directly given English many technical and academic terms. Many French words also have Latin roots. During the English Renaissance (1500-1650), a new interest in classical learning brought more Latin words into the English language.

Examples: Simple words include mile, wine, cheese, city, school, candle, joy, grief, fine, and poor. Distance, double, figure, peace, festival, victory, urban, mayor, supreme, tradition, and normal are other examples. More complex words include anachronism, enthusiasm, imaginary, juvenile, conglomerate and sophisticated.

Old Norse: Norse (Viking) languages influenced English with some everyday words and place names.

Examples: anger, bag, cake, call, dirt, egg, gift, husband, ill, knife, leg, mistake, odd, run, sale, sky, take, until, want, and wrong

French: The Norman Conquest of 1066 had a huge impact on English. French became the language of the ruling class, influencing vocabulary in areas such as law, government, military, art, literature, food, and fashion.

Examples: advice, ambulance, coupon, court, cuisine, dentist, govern, habit, honesty, mutton, perfume, sport, utensil, war

Greek: Another language of scholarship, Greek has supplied English with vocabulary in the fields of science, mathematics, and philosophy.

Examples: prefixes like “bio-” (life) as in biology, “geo-” (earth) as in geography, and “tele-” (far) as in telephone; suffixes like “-logy” (study of) as in biology, “-phobia” (fear of), and “-cracy” (rule or government) as in democracy or theocracy. Other examples include antique, architect, economy, dialog, dinosaur, encyclopedia, galaxy, grammar, idol, and microscope.

Worldwide: English has borrowed words from many other languages throughout history. This process continues as English interacts with other languages around the world.

Examples: Arabic (“safari” and “lemon”), Chinese (“ketchup”, “tea” and “typhoon”), Dutch (“cookie”), Finnish (“sauna”), German (“wanderlust” and “kindergarten”), Italian (“cartoon”, “pizza” and “opera”), Hindi (“loot”, “pajamas” and “shampoo”), Japanese (“karaoke” and “tsunami”), Norwegian (“ski”), Portuguese (“massage”), Sanskrit (“yoga”), Spanish (“cigar”), and Welsh (“penguin”)

New Words: Like with any growing language, new words are often created to describe new technology, trends, or specific conditions or situations.

Examples: Anglosphere, brunch, cringe, crowdfunding, deepfake, deplatform, gaslighting, metaverse, and unfriend

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