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 |
|---|---|
| paraskenion | Greek, wing building beside the stage |
| parastades | Greek, pilasters flanking a doorway |
| paratitla | Greek, summaries appended to law titles |
| paratitlon | Greek, a summary note on a law title |
| paratorium | Latin, room for preparing the elements |
| paratragedia | Latin, a parody of tragedy |
| paratragoedia | Latin paratragoedia, mock tragedy |
| paravidya | Sanskrit, "higher knowledge" |
| parfumoir | French, a perfume burner or holder |
| parodus | Latin/Greek, the chorus's entrance passage |
| parrah | Indian/Sinhalese, a measure of capacity |
| pasela | South African (Zulu), a free extra, a bonus |
| pashka | Russian paskha, Easter curd dessert |
| passacaglio | Italian, a passacaglia |
| passagio | Italian passaggio, a musical passage |
| passgang | German Passgang, a horse's pacing gait |
| pastophor | Greek pastophoros, shrine-bearing priest |
| pastophorion | Greek, side chamber of a temple or church |
| pastorita | Spanish, little shepherdess |
| paterissa | Greek, Orthodox bishop's pastoral staff |
| pathema | Greek, a suffering or affection |
| pattidari | Hindi, joint village land tenure |
| pattoo | Hindi pattu, coarse woolen cloth |
| pattu | Hindi/Tamil, coarse woolen cloth |
| pechys | Greek pechys, the cubit |
| pedimentum | New Latin, a pediment |
| pedotribe | Greek paidotribes, a gymnastics trainer |
| peho | Maori, a New Zealand bird name |
| peiktha | Burmese, the viss, a unit of weight |
| peixere | Portuguese, the silverside fish, peixe-rei |
| peixerey | Portuguese peixe-rei, the silverside fish |
| pelamyd | Greek pelamys, the young tunny or bonito |
| pelanos | Greek, a sacrificial cake or offering |
| penbard | Welsh penbardd, chief bard |
| pentagonon | Greek, "pentagon" |
| pentastylos | Greek, "five-columned" |
| peperek | Malay, the ponyfish |
| pepinella | Italian, the chayote (Sechium edule) |
| perakim | Hebrew, "chapters" (plural of perek) |
| perdrigon | French, an early variety of plum |
| pergamyn | German Pergamin, glassine paper |
| peridromoi | Greek, colonnades running round a temple |
| perirraniai | Greek, lustral sprinklings |
| peristylos | Greek, "peristyle", a surrounding colonnade |
| petalon | Greek, "leaf, thin plate" |
| petum | Tupi, tobacco |
| peulvan | Breton, "standing stone, menhir" |
| phainolion | Greek, the chasuble |
| pheal | Anglo-Indian, the dhole or its cry |
| pheeal | Anglo-Indian, the jackal's cry |
| phenolion | Greek, chasuble, var. of phelonion |
| philopater | Greek, "father-loving", a royal epithet |
| philophilosophos | Greek, "lover of the philosopher" |
| phrator | Greek, a member of a phratry |
| phrontisterium | Latin, a thinking-shop, phrontistery |
| phrygium | Latin, the Phrygian cap; papal tiara |
| phulwa | Hindi, the phulwara butter tree |
| phulwara | Hindi, Indian butter tree, Bassia butyracea |
| physiologue | French, a physiologist or naturalist |
| pichurim | Tupi via Portuguese, Brazilian nutmeg bean |
| pictun | Maya, calendar cycle of twenty baktuns |
| picucule | French, a woodcreeper of tropical America |
| pidjajap | Malay, a war-prau, penjajap |
| piecette | French, a small coin or small piece |
| piedroit | French, a square pier or door-jamb |
| pifero | Italian, a fife or shepherd's pipe |
| piligan | American Spanish, a medicinal plant |
| pilikai | Hawaiian, a seaside plant |
| pililloo | Anglo-Irish, a wailing cry of lament |
| pilipilula | Hawaiian, a grass, Chrysopogon aciculatus |
| pinakotheke | Greek, a picture gallery |
| pindjajap | Malay, a war-prau, penjajap |
| pinjra | Hindi, a cage |
| pipikaula | Hawaiian, dried salted beef |
| piquia | Brazilian Portuguese, the Caryocar tree |
| piquiere | French, a pikeman, piquier |
| pirijiri | South American native name for a bird |
| piririgua | South American, the guira cuckoo |
| pirraura | Dieri (Australian), a group-marriage spouse |
| pirrauru | Dieri (Australian), group-marriage partner |
| pishu | Cree, the Canada lynx |
| pistrix | Latin, sea-monster; the constellation Cetus |
| pitau | Maori, young fern frond used as ornament |
| pitayita | Spanish dim., small pitaya cactus |
| pitirri | Antillean Spanish, the gray kingbird (pitirre) |
| pityocampe | Greek, the pine caterpillar |
| piuri | Hindi, Indian yellow pigment |
| platilla | Spanish, a coarse linen fabric |
| plusquam | Latin, "more than" |
| podos | Greek, genitive of pous, "of the foot" |
| poloi | Greek, plural of polos, cylindrical headdress |
| poltinik | Russian poltinnik, a fifty-kopek coin |
| polystaurion | Greek, vestment marked with many crosses |
| pomeshchik | Russian, a landed proprietor |
| poogye | Hindi, an Indian nose-flute |
| poonga | Indian, the pongam tree and its oil |
| poonghee | Burmese phongyi, a Buddhist monk |
| postnatus | Latin, "one born after" (law) |
| poudrin | French, fine ice crystals in polar air |
| pranava | Sanskrit, the sacred syllable Om |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
