Real Words Without Definition
This one is a judgement call.
A foreign word used in English without ever being translated.
adelphoi is Greek for brothers. aburabozu is a Japanese fish. achtelthaler is a German coin worth an eighth of a thaler. afghanets is a Russian word for a dusty Central Asian wind.
They turn up in English books, so somebody wrote them down. They never became English words, so no dictionary lists them.
2,016 words · sorted A to Z · each with a line on why it is here
Matches the word itself, not the note beside it. Case does not matter.
| Word, sorted Z to A | Language and meaning |
|---|---|
| anacampsis | Greek, reflection of light or sound |
| anaclete | Greek, a call or summons |
| anacletica | Greek, a rousing signal or reveille |
| anacleticum | Latin, a trumpet call to assemble |
| anagap | Philippine vernacular tree name |
| anagep | Philippine tree name, var. of anagap |
| anagignoskomena | Greek, "things read", deuterocanon |
| anaglypton | Greek, work in low relief |
| anahao | Tagalog, fan palm Livistona |
| anahau | Tagalog, fan palm (var. anahao) |
| analabos | Greek, monastic scapular |
| analav | Greek/Russian, monastic scapular |
| analogice | Latin, "analogically" |
| analogion | Greek, Orthodox lectern |
| anapanapa | Maori, a New Zealand shrub |
| anaqua | Spanish, Texan tree Ehretia anacua |
| anartismos | Greek, a fitting-up, completion |
| anastasimon | Greek, resurrection hymn |
| anastasimos | Greek, "of the resurrection" |
| andamenta | Italian, courses of mosaic tesserae |
| andantini | Italian, plural of andantino |
| andouillet | French, small andouille sausage |
| androlepsia | Greek, seizure of men in reprisal |
| andronitis | Greek, the men's quarters of a house |
| angakut | Inuit, plural of angakok, shamans |
| angareb | Arabic, Sudanese bedstead |
| angareeb | Arabic, Sudanese bedstead |
| angarep | Arabic, Sudanese bedstead |
| angeyok | Inuit, shaman (var. angekok) |
| anglicanum | Latin, as in opus anglicanum |
| anilau | Tagalog, a Philippine tree |
| animetta | Italian, cloth covering the chalice |
| ankoli | Hindi, the alangium tree |
| ankylos | Greek, "bent, crooked" |
| anobing | Philippine, a timber tree (Artocarpus) |
| anodos | Greek, "way up"; ascending phyllotaxy spiral |
| anoncillo | Spanish, the genip tree and its fruit |
| anquera | Spanish, leather covering for horse's croup |
| ansu | Japanese, the ansu apricot |
| antapocha | Latin, a counter-receipt |
| antapodosis | Greek, clause answering the protasis |
| antarala | Sanskrit, vestibule of a temple |
| antaranga | Sanskrit, "internal" (yoga) |
| antejuramentum | Latin, preliminary oath in old law |
| antepirrhema | Greek drama, speech answering the epirrhema |
| anthema | Greek, a floral ornament |
| anthologion | Greek, Orthodox service anthology |
| antilepsis | Greek, 'a laying hold'; a support or bandage |
| antiparagraphe | Greek, a counter-plea or exception in law |
| antiphonon | Greek, an antiphon |
| antjar | Malay/Javanese, an East Indian pickle |
| anuloma | Sanskrit, in the natural order; hypergamy |
| aparavidya | Sanskrit, lower or exoteric knowledge |
| aphlaston | Greek, curved ornament on a ship's stern |
| aphrodision | Greek, a temple of Aphrodite |
| aphroditeum | Latin, a shrine of Aphrodite |
| apikores | Yiddish/Hebrew, a heretic, unbeliever |
| apochae | Latin, receipts, pl. of apocha |
| apodeipna | Greek, Compline offices (pl.) |
| apodeipnon | Greek, Compline, the after-supper office |
| apoikia | Greek, a colony or settlement |
| apokrea | Greek, the meat-fare (carnival) season |
| apokreos | Greek, meat-fare Sunday |
| apolousis | Greek, a washing, ablution |
| aporrhoea | Greek, an emanation, effluvium |
| apsinthion | Greek, wormwood, absinth |
| aquamanale | Latin, ewer for washing the hands |
| aragonspath | German, aragonite spar |
| araguane | Sp. Amer., a tropical timber tree |
| arbith | Hebrew, the evening prayer service |
| archarios | Greek, a beginner or novice |
| archiereus | Greek, high priest, bishop |
| ardelio | Latin, a busybody or meddler |
| areito | Taino, ceremonial song and dance |
| arghel | Arabic, the plant Solenostemma argel |
| arigue | Philippine Spanish, a house post |
| aristoi | Greek, "the best", the nobles |
| armitas | Spanish, vaquero's short leather chaps |
| aromatitae | Latin, aromatic gems/spiced wines |
| aromatites | Latin, an ancient spiced wine; also a gem |
| aroon | Anglo-Irish, a rún, "my dear" |
| arsenillo | Spanish, a S. American plant/ore name |
| articulationes | Latin, "joints" (anatomical plural) |
| arupa | Sanskrit arūpa, "formless" |
| asarota | Latin, mosaics of an "unswept floor" |
| asarotum | Latin, mosaic floor strewn with scraps |
| ascellus | Latin, the armpit |
| ascriptitii | Latin, serfs bound to the land (pl.) |
| ascriptitius | Latin, a serf attached to the soil |
| aselgeia | Greek aselgeia, "licentiousness" |
| assahy | Tupi/Portuguese, the assai (açaí) palm |
| assapanic | Algonquian, the flying squirrel |
| assbaa | Arabic, a finger; a linear measure |
| assecurator | Latin, an insurer, underwriter |
| asteriskos | Greek, liturgical star-shaped paten cover |
| asthorin | Irish a stóirín, "little darling" |
| atelets | French hâtelet, small ornamental skewer |
| atharvan | Sanskrit, a fire-priest |
| attornare | Medieval Latin, to attorn, transfer |
| atule | Hawaiian, the big-eyed scad |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
