Synonyms

loan word

British

noun

a word adopted, often with some modification of its form, from one language into another

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Schadenfreude, a German loan word, translates to "pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune."

From Salon • Sep. 26, 2021

Though its status as a loan word might lead one to believe it is an uncommon emotion, that's not true in this case.

From Salon • Sep. 26, 2021

But I must not allow you to completely erase “shampoo,” a beautiful loan word from Hindi.

From New York Times • Nov. 9, 2018

As an English loan word, it continued to broaden its utility, describing the elusive degrees of difference in just about anything.

From New York Times • Oct. 16, 2018

Each was called by a local name and not by a loan word, a most demonstrable evidence of local origin.

From Degeneracy Its Causes, Signs and Results by Talbot, Eugene S.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023