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 |
|---|---|
| roquille | French, a small measure for liquids |
| rougeot | French, a leaf disease of the grapevine |
| sabbitha | Aramaic, the Sabbath |
| sacate | Spanish, grass or hay in the US Southwest |
| sadhika | Sanskrit, a female spiritual aspirant |
| saganash | Algonquian, an Englishman |
| saguran | Philippine, a mat woven from buri palm |
| salago | Philippine, a shrub yielding bark fibre for paper |
| salariego | Spanish, a wage-earner |
| salicorn | French salicorne, the glasswort |
| salloo | Hindi, a red cotton cloth |
| saltatras | Spanish salta atras, a colonial casta grade |
| samohu | Brazilian, the silk-floss tree Chorisia |
| sandastra | Latin, a spangled gem of the ancients |
| sandastros | Greek, the same spangled gem |
| sansculottid | French, one of the five extra Republican days |
| sarbican | French sarbacane, a blowpipe |
| sarcilis | Latin sarcilis, a coarse cloth |
| sarson | Hindi, the mustard plant of India |
| satyaloka | Sanskrit, the world of truth, the highest heaven |
| satyashodak | Sanskrit, "seeker of truth" |
| savacu | Tupi, the boat-billed heron |
| savelha | Portuguese, a shad (Alosa) |
| scabine | Latin scabinus, a medieval lay magistrate |
| scaphe | Greek, a bowl-shaped sundial |
| scaphion | Greek, a small bowl or bowl sundial |
| scarpetti | Italian, light rope-soled climbing shoes |
| scatula | Latin, a small box used in pharmacy |
| sceuophorion | Greek, a receptacle for the sacred vessels |
| schalstein | German, a schistose calcareous tuff rock |
| schanse | Dutch/Afrikaans, a stone breastwork, sconce |
| schillerfels | German, schiller rock, a schiller-spar rock |
| schlauraffenland | German Schlaraffenland, the land of Cockaigne |
| schmeiss | German/Yiddish, a challenge call in klaberjass |
| schokker | Dutch, a type of fishing boat |
| schraubthaler | German, a thaler that screws open |
| schryari | German, a Renaissance double-reed wind instrument |
| scoloc | Gaelic scológ, a church tenant or scholar |
| scolog | Gaelic scológ, a church tenant or small farmer |
| scordium | Latin, water germander (Teucrium scordium) |
| scottice | Latin, in Scottish fashion, in Scots |
| scribanne | French, a writing cabinet or secretary desk |
| scripulum | Latin, a scruple, a small unit of weight |
| scrivello | Portuguese-derived, a small elephant tusk |
| seacannie | Anglo-Indian, a lascar helmsman (seacunny) |
| seamrog | Irish seamrog, the shamrock |
| seecawk | Algonquian, the skunk |
| seetulputty | Anglo-Indian, a cool Bengal mat (sitalpati) |
| seilenoi | Greek, plural of seilenos, the silenuses |
| seilenos | Greek, a silenus, an old satyr |
| semolella | Italian, a fine grade of semolina |
| semsem | Arabic simsim, sesame |
| seqed | Egyptian, the seqed, a pyramid slope measure |
| seraskierat | Turkish, the office of the seraskier, the war ministry |
| sergelim | Portuguese gergelim, sesame or its oil |
| sermocinatrix | Latin, a woman who discourses or preaches |
| seroot | Sudanese Arabic, the seroot, a bloodsucking fly |
| serpari | Italian, the serpari, snake handlers of the Abruzzi |
| sevum | Latin, suet or tallow in pharmacy |
| shabandar | Persian shahbandar, a harbourmaster or chief of merchants |
| shaganappy | Cree, shaganappi, a rawhide thong or line |
| shahee | Persian, a small coin (shahi) |
| shahzadi | Persian/Urdu, a princess |
| shallu | Indian, a grain sorghum |
| shamim | Hebrew, the heavens (shamayim) |
| shammashi | Hebrew, of the shammash, synagogue beadle |
| shamosim | Yiddish, plural of shammes, synagogue beadles |
| shanachas | Irish, traditional lore (seanchas) |
| shanachus | Irish, traditional lore (seanchas) |
| sharira | Sanskrit, the body; Buddhist relics |
| shastracara | Sanskrit, conduct according to the shastras |
| shedim | Hebrew, demons |
| shegets | Yiddish, a gentile boy (shegetz) |
| sheitlen | Yiddish, wigs, plural of sheitel |
| shemaal | Arabic, the north-west wind (shamal) |
| sheminith | Hebrew, a musical direction in the Psalms |
| sheogue | Irish, a fairy (siog) |
| sherbetlee | Turkish, a sherbet-flavoured sweetmeat |
| sherifa | Arabic, a female sharif |
| sherifi | Arabic, a gold coin (ashrafi) |
| sheriyat | Arabic, Islamic law (shariat) |
| shiggaion | Hebrew, a heading term in the Psalms |
| shigionoth | Hebrew, plural of shiggaion |
| shikasta | Persian, a cursive script |
| shimal | Arabic, the north-west wind (shamal) |
| shoffroth | Hebrew, shofroth, plural of shofar |
| shuba | Russian, a fur coat |
| shumal | Arabic, the north-west wind (shamal) |
| shurf | German/Russian, a mining prospect pit (Schurf) |
| shurgee | Arabic, the south-east wind (sharqi) |
| sibboleth | Hebrew, the Ephraimite form of shibboleth |
| sicilica | Latin, a Roman unit of weight |
| sidion | Greek, pomegranate rind used in pharmacy |
| sifflot | French, a whistler; a West Indian bird name |
| sijill | Arabic, a register or official deed |
| sikimi | Japanese, shikimi, the Japanese star anise tree |
| sillandar | Anglo-Indian, silahdar, a trooper who finds his own horse |
| similimum | Latin, homeopathy's most similar remedy |
| simool | Hindi, semul, the silk-cotton tree |
| sinebada | Motu (Papua), sinabada, a European lady |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
