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loanword
or loan word
[ lohn-wurd ]
/ ˈloʊnˌwɜrd /
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This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
noun
a word in one language that has been borrowed from another language and usually naturalized, as wine, taken into Old English from Latin vinum, or macho, taken into Modern English from Spanish.
QUIZ
ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?
We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.
Question 1 of 8
Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?
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Also called loan.
Origin of loanword
1870–75; translation of German Lehnwort
Words nearby loanword
loansharking, loanshift, loan-to-value, loan translation, loan value, loanword, loath, loathe, loathful, loathing, loathly
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use loanword in a sentence
It has, consequently, in not a few cases, been difficult to decide whether a word is a loanword or not.
Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch|George Tobias Flom
British Dictionary definitions for loanword
loan word
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
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