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 |
|---|---|
| etaballi | Guyanese name of a timber tree |
| evangelistarion | Greek, book of Gospel lessons |
| exorhason | Greek, outer cassock of Orthodox clergy |
| faciata | Italian, the front or façade of a building |
| fagottone | Italian, the contrabassoon |
| falsiteit | Dutch, falsity, falsehood |
| faniente | Italian, "doing nothing", an idler |
| fantocine | Italian fantoccino, a puppet |
| farfal | Yiddish, farfel, pellets of egg noodle |
| faufel | Arabic, the areca or betel nut |
| favissa | Latin, an underground temple vault |
| feasant | Anglo-French, "doing", as in damage feasant |
| fedellini | Italian, fedelini, fine noodles |
| felaheen | Arabic, peasants (fellahin) |
| felahin | Arabic, peasants (fellahin) |
| fenouillette | French, fennel-flavoured liqueur / apple |
| ferfathmur | Icelandic, a square fathom |
| feridjee | Turkish, woman's outer cloak |
| feridji | Turkish, woman's outer cloak |
| ferigee | Turkish, woman's outer cloak |
| ferijee | Turkish, woman's outer cloak |
| ferthumlungur | Icelandic, a square inch |
| fettstein | German, "fat stone", elaeolite |
| fidawi | Arabic, a self-sacrificing devotee |
| filosus | Latin, "thready", filose |
| fintadores | Portuguese, payers of the finta tax |
| firnismalerei | German, varnish painting |
| fjarding | Scandinavian, a quarter measure |
| fjerding | Norwegian/Danish, a quarter of a mile |
| flanconnade | French, fencing thrust at the flank |
| flandan | French, a woman's headdress |
| flossa | Swedish, a long-pile rug |
| fohat | Tibetan (Theosophy), cosmic vital energy |
| folletage | French, sudden wilting disease of vines |
| forcene | French heraldry, rearing (of a horse) |
| forlane | It./Fr. forlana, a Venetian dance |
| forsado | Sp. forzado, a galley slave |
| frailero | Sp., a friar's chair (sillón frailero) |
| fraileros | Sp. fraileros, plural of frailero |
| frenghi | Turk./Pers. feringhi, a European, a Frank |
| fricandelle | Fr./Du., a small meat rissole |
| friponerie | Fr. friponnerie, roguery, knavery |
| frisolee | Fr. frisolée, a leaf-curl disease of potato |
| friszka | Hung. friska, the fast movement of a czardas |
| frotton | French, a rubbing-pad used in gilding |
| fumistery | French fumisterie, humbug; chimney-doctoring |
| functionnaire | French fonctionnaire, an official |
| fylgjur | Old Norse, attendant spirits, fetches |
| fyrdung | Old English, the military levy or army |
| gaatch | Persian, gypsum plaster (gatch) |
| gablatores | Med. Latin, rent-paying tenants |
| gachupin | Mexican Spanish, a Spanish-born resident |
| gaize | French, a siliceous marl or sandstone |
| galapee | W. Indian, the galapee tree |
| galempong | Javanese, the celempung zither |
| galempung | Javanese, the celempung zither |
| galionji | Turkish, a sailor of the Ottoman navy |
| galoubet | French, a Provençal three-holed pipe |
| gamari | Bengali, the tree Gmelina arborea |
| gamori | Greek, the Syracusan landholding class |
| garapato | Spanish, the cattle tick |
| garetta | Italian, a small turret or sentry box |
| garookuh | Persian, a Gulf fishing boat |
| garrooka | Persian, a Gulf fishing boat (garookuh) |
| gascromh | Gaelic, the crooked foot-plow (cas-chrom) |
| gaub | Hindi, the gaub or Indian persimmon tree |
| gayyou | Burmese, a long narrow boat |
| gedackt | German, a stopped organ pipe or stop |
| geelbec | Afrikaans, the Cape salmon (geelbek) |
| geelbeck | Afrikaans, the Cape salmon (geelbek) |
| geelbek | Afrikaans "yellow beak", a South African fish |
| geleem | Persian, a flat-woven rug (gelim, kilim) |
| genarcha | Latin/Greek, head of a family |
| genetor | Latin, a begetter or father |
| genisaro | Spanish, janissary; a detribalized servant |
| geodaesia | New Latin, geodesy, the art of land measuring |
| germon | French, the albacore tuna |
| getmesost | Norwegian, goat's-milk whey cheese |
| geulah | Hebrew, "redemption" |
| geullah | Hebrew, "redemption" (geulah) |
| gezerah | Hebrew, a rabbinic decree |
| ghain | Arabic, the letter ghayn |
| ghatti | Hindi, gum ghatti from Anogeissus |
| ghatwazi | Bengali, land tenure held by a ghatwal |
| ghebeta | Amharic, Ethiopian mancala game |
| ghedda | Indian beeswax (ghedda wax) |
| gheleem | Persian, a kilim rug |
| ghrush | Arabic, piastre coin (qirsh) |
| giarra | Italian, a large jar or oil measure |
| giarre | Italian, jars (giara) |
| gibbergunyah | Australian Aboriginal, a rock shelter |
| giojoso | Italian, gioioso, "joyous" (music) |
| gjedost | Norwegian, brown goat cheese |
| gnatoo | Tongan, bark cloth (ngatu) |
| goala | Hindi, a cowherd or milkman caste |
| godendag | Flemish "goedendag", medieval spiked club |
| goetae | Latin/Greek pl., sorcerers (goes, goetes) |
| goladar | Hindi, keeper of a grain store (gola) |
| golandaas | Hindi golandaz, an artilleryman |
| golundauze | Hindi golandaz, artilleryman |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
