English Words and Their Origins

2. The origin of the word is Central African from the Kongo words "nzambi" (god) and "zumbi" (fetish). Haitian Creole and French also use a similar word to mean"an animated corpse raised by magical means."
3. from Arabic qandi, Persian qand "cane sugar," and before that from Sanskrit khanda "piece (of sugar)"
4. This word, and its meaning of ‘forbidden’, was noted by Captain Cook in Tonga in 1777.
9. “Paparazzi” is actually the plural form of the Italian word paparazzo. It’s used in English to describe a photographer or a group of photographers who take pictures of celebrities. Then they sell the photos to magazines or newspapers.
10. This word derived is from the Gaelic word sluagh-ghairm, a war cry used in battle in Scotland and Ireland. It usually included a personal or place name.
12. Although there are French, Spanish and Portuguese variants of this fruit, the word ultimately derived from a Mexican word, tomatl.
14. This word is a borrowing from Spanish: the noun embargo, and the verb embargar (to arrest or impede).
15. From Spanish- In English, “patio” generally describes an area outside a house which often has a table and chairs, but no roof.
16. Thought to be of West African origin, possibly from the Wolof word banaana, and passed into English via Spanish or Portuguese.

1. from German - Translated literally, this word means “children’s garden.” It’s a common type of school in many parts of the world. Children often go to a year or two of kindergarten when they’re 5 years old before they start elementary school.
4. From Japanese -This is a gigantic (very large) sea wave that is usually caused by an earthquake.
5. It dates to 1762 and is derived from Hindi chāmpo (चाँपो), itself derived from the Sanskrit root chapati (चपति), which means to press, knead, soothe
6. The word guitar entered English from the Spanish word guitarra, although its origin can be traced back to Greek and the related words cither/zither.
7. The English word for this animal is a borrowing from the Algonquian word aroughcun.
8. The word pyjamas entered English through Urdu and Persian, derived from pā (foot or leg) + jāma (clothing).
10. Originating with the Tungusian people, a formerly nomadic tribe of Siberia, shaman was the name given to a priest-doctor. It’s now used in many other areas to refer to spiritual healers.
11. A toy on a string that has existed since ancient Greece. The English word probably comes from the Ilocano, a language from the Phillipines.
13. came to English after passing through Spanish, but originally it was xocolatl in the Nahuatl language of modern-day Mexico.