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 |
|---|---|
| talpetate | American Spanish, cemented volcanic ash soil |
| tamanduy | Tupi, the lesser anteater (tamandua) |
| tamanowus | Chinook Jargon, a guardian spirit |
| tambourgi | Turkish, a drummer |
| tambourinade | French, a piece or dance for the tambourine |
| tamburan | Melanesian tambaran, an ancestral spirit |
| tamburone | Italian, the bass drum |
| tampoy | Malay, a rose-apple type fruit tree |
| tandour | Turkish, a covered brazier, a tandoor |
| tangham | Tibetan, a hill pony (tangan) |
| tanguin | Malagasy, the ordeal-poison tree |
| tapoa | Australian Aboriginal, a phascogale (tapoa tafa) |
| taqua | South American tagua, the ivory-nut palm |
| tarchon | Greek and Arabic tarkhun, tarragon |
| tarfa | Arabic, the tamarisk |
| tariri | Peruvian name for a Picramnia tree |
| tartago | Spanish tartago, the caper spurge |
| tasajillo | American Spanish, a slender desert cactus |
| tashreef | Urdu tashrif, the honour of one's presence |
| tatuasu | Tupi tatu-assu, the giant armadillo |
| tatukira | Tupi, an animal name built on tatu, armadillo |
| taurocolla | Latin from Greek, glue made from bull hides |
| tchapan | Turkic, a chapan, a long quilted robe |
| tcharik | Turkish, a rawhide shoe |
| tchast | Russian chast, a city ward or police district |
| tcheirek | Turkish, a quarter, of coin or measure |
| tchervontzi | Russian, pl. of chervonets, a gold coin |
| teguria | Latin, plural of tegurium, a hut or shrine canopy |
| tegurium | Latin, a small hut or canopy over a shrine |
| tejon | American Spanish, the badger or coati |
| tekya | Turkish and Arabic, a dervish lodge (tekke) |
| telesteria | Greek, plural of telesterion, halls of initiation |
| temadau | Malay, the banteng or wild ox (tembadau) |
| tembeitera | Tupi-Guarani, a lip ornament |
| tembeta | Tupi-Guarani, a plug worn in the lower lip |
| tembetara | Tupi-Guarani, a labret or lip ornament |
| tendejon | American Spanish, a small shop or stall |
| tenementum | Medieval Latin, a holding or tenement |
| tephillim | Hebrew, phylacteries or prayers (tefillin) |
| terceron | Spanish, child of a white and a mulatto parent |
| terron | Spanish terron, a clod or lump of earth |
| tertiana | Latin, tertian fever (febris tertiana) |
| terton | Tibetan, a revealer of hidden treasure texts |
| teruteru | American Spanish, the southern lapwing |
| tesack | Slavic tesak, a short heavy cutlass |
| teskere | Turkish, an official permit or passport |
| teskeria | Turkish, a certificate or the office issuing it |
| tessara | Greek, four; the combining form tessara- |
| tetard | French tetard, a pollarded tree or a tadpole |
| tetrachordon | Greek, a four-stringed instrument or system |
| tetraplous | Greek, fourfold |
| tetrastylos | Greek, a building with four columns |
| tetrobolon | Greek, a coin worth four obols |
| texguino | Mexican Spanish, maize beer (tesguino) |
| tezkirah | Turkish and Persian, a certificate or memoir |
| thackoor | Hindi thakur, a lord or an idol |
| thalatta | Greek (Attic), the sea |
| thamakau | Fijian, a small outrigger sailing canoe |
| thanatousia | Greek, offerings or rites for the dead |
| theatron | Greek, the seating part of an ancient theatre |
| theodicaea | New Latin, theodicaea, theodicy |
| theokrasia | Greek, theokrasia, a mingling with the deity |
| theologeion | Greek, the gods' platform above a Greek stage |
| theologium | Latin, the gods' platform in an ancient theatre |
| theophania | Late Latin, theophania, a theophany |
| theoriai | Greek, theoriai, contemplations, plural of theoria |
| theoricon | Greek, the Athenian festival fund |
| thesmothetae | Latin, the six junior archons of Athens |
| thete | Greek, a member of the lowest Athenian class |
| thitka | Burmese, a Burmese timber tree, Pentace burmanica |
| thronoi | Greek, thronoi, thrones, plural of thronos |
| thumlungur | Icelandic, a thumb's breadth, an inch |
| thurificati | Latin, those who burned incense to idols |
| thyiad | Greek, a Thyiad or Bacchante |
| thymele | Greek, the altar in a theatre orchestra |
| thyroria | Greek, porters' lodges, thyroreia |
| thyrorion | Greek, a porter's lodge beside a door |
| tibourbou | Tupi via French, a tropical American tree |
| ticca | Hindi, hired by contract, as a ticca gharry |
| tikkun | Hebrew, restoration or correction |
| tiklin | Philippine, a woven basket or carrier |
| tikoor | Hindi, East Indian arrowroot, Curcuma |
| tikur | Hindi, East Indian arrowroot, Curcuma |
| tilikum | Chinook Jargon, people, friends |
| tillicum | Chinook Jargon, friend, also tilikum |
| timerau | Philippine, the tamaraw, a dwarf buffalo |
| tinampipi | Philippine, a woven palm leaf trunk |
| tirocinia | Latin, tirocinia, apprenticeships |
| tirshatha | Hebrew, title of the governor of Judea |
| titar | Hindi, the grey partridge |
| tizeur | French, the stoker of a glass furnace |
| tjandi | Javanese, Dutch spelling of candi, a temple |
| tjenkal | Javanese, Dutch spelling of a unit of length |
| toktokje | Afrikaans, the tapping toktokkie beetle |
| tolderia | Spanish American, a camp of toldos |
| tomjon | Anglo-Indian, an open sedan chair (tonjon) |
| tonalmatl | Nahuatl, the Aztec divinatory book (tonalamatl) |
| tonnland | Swedish tunnland, a measure of land area |
| toolsi | Hindi, the holy basil (tulsi) |
| topeewallah | Anglo-Indian, a topee-wearing European |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
