List of English words of Norwegian origin
Encyclopedia
Some words from the Norwegian language
have entered into common English
usage. Many of the words relate to the climate and culture of Norway
, or skiing
. In total English language has about 600 loanwords from Scandinavian languages.
Not all of these words are definitely from Norwegian. They may be from other Scandinavian languages such as Danish
or Swedish
, or may come from Old Norse when it was a single language.
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
have entered into common English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
usage. Many of the words relate to the climate and culture of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, or skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
. In total English language has about 600 loanwords from Scandinavian languages.
Not all of these words are definitely from Norwegian. They may be from other Scandinavian languages such as Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
or Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
, or may come from Old Norse when it was a single language.
- AquavitAkvavitAkvavit or aquavit is a traditional flavoured spirit that is principally produced in Scandinavia, where it has been produced since the 15th century....
(also akevitt, a kind of distilled spirit made of potatoes) - Brisling (small, herring-like, marine fish)
- FjordFjordGeologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...
(a long indentation of a sea) - Floe (as in ice floe, a river ice slide)
- Klister (a kind of ski waxSki waxSki wax is a material applied to the bottom of skis or snowboards to improve the ski's performance on snow. It can also be applied to other devices that slide over snow and ice such as toboggans.- Types of ski wax :...
, from the word for glueGlueThis is a list of various types of glue. Historically, the term "glue" only referred to protein colloids prepared from animal flesh. The meaning has been extended to refer to any fluid adhesive....
or paste; also common Scandinavian) - KrakenKrakenKraken are legendary sea monsters of giant proportions said to have dwelt off the coasts of Norway and Iceland.In modern German, Krake means octopus but can also refer to the legendary Kraken...
(giant octopus, or giant squid) - KrillKrillKrill is the common name given to the order Euphausiacea of shrimp-like marine crustaceans. Also known as euphausiids, these small invertebrates are found in all oceans of the world...
(small shrimp-like animal) - LefseLefseLefse is a traditional soft, Norwegian flatbread. Lefse is made out of potato, milk or cream and flour, and cooked on a griddle. Special tools are available for lefse baking, including long wooden turning sticks and special rolling pins with deep grooves.-Flavoring:There are many ways of...
(Norwegian potato flatbread similar to a tortilla) - LemmingLemmingLemmings are small rodents, usually found in or near the Arctic, in tundra biomes. They are subniveal animals, and together with voles and muskrats, they make up the subfamily Arvicolinae , which forms part of the largest mammal radiation by far, the superfamily Muroidea, which also includes rats,...
(lemen, a rodent species) - LutefiskLutefiskLutefisk or Lutfisk is a traditional dish of the Nordic countries and parts of the Midwest United States. It is made from aged stockfish or dried/salted whitefish and lye . It is gelatinous in texture, and has an extremely strong, pungent odor...
(fish course made from dried fish and lut (lye)). - MarsalaMarsalaMarsala is a seaport city located in the Province of Trapani on the island of Sicily in Italy. The low coast on which it is situated is the westernmost point of the island...
(a restroom) - QuislingQuislingQuisling is a term used in reference to fascist and collaborationist political parties and military and paramilitary forces in occupied Allied countries which collaborated with Axis occupiers in World War II, as well as for their members and other collaborators.- Etymology :The term was coined by...
(a traitor, from Vidkun QuislingVidkun QuislingVidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling was a Norwegian politician. On 9 April 1940, with the German invasion of Norway in progress, he seized power in a Nazi-backed coup d'etat that garnered him international infamy. From 1942 to 1945 he served as Minister-President, working with the occupying...
) - SkareSki waxSki wax is a material applied to the bottom of skis or snowboards to improve the ski's performance on snow. It can also be applied to other devices that slide over snow and ice such as toboggans.- Types of ski wax :...
(a kind of ski waxSki waxSki wax is a material applied to the bottom of skis or snowboards to improve the ski's performance on snow. It can also be applied to other devices that slide over snow and ice such as toboggans.- Types of ski wax :...
, from the Norwegian word for snow crust) - SkiSkiA ski is a long, flat device worn on the foot, usually attached through a boot, designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now mainly used for recreational and sporting purposes...
(equipment for skiingSkiingSkiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
activities; originally a general word for a plank or chop of wood) - Skrei (From a word meaning "flock" or "crowd", large nomadic codCodCod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
fish) - SlalomSlalom skiingSlalom is an alpine skiing discipline, involving skiing between poles spaced much closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thereby causing quicker and shorter turns.- Origins :...
(slalåm; not too steep downhill skiing with many gates and turns) - TelemarkTelemark skiingTelemark skiing is a form of skiing using the Telemark turn. Unlike alpine skiing equipment, the skis used for telemarking either have a binding that only connects the boot to the ski at the toes, just as in cross-country skiing, or may be released to only connect there.Telemark turns are led with...
(a type of ski turn or style of skiing named for the TelemarkTelemarkis a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...
region in Norway) - Uff daUff daUff da is an expression of Norwegian origin adopted by Scandinavian-Americans in the 19th century...
(interjection, can also be spelled oofda, ufda, oofta and ufta) - OmbudsmanOmbudsmanAn ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...
(a person who acts as a intermediary between an organization and some constituency) - YnglingYngling (keelboat)thumbA Yngling is a sailing boat which the International Yngling Association call an "agreeable cross between a planing dinghy and a keelboat." It can be regarded as a smaller version of the Soling although there are differences in sailing characteristics, proportion, and tuning requirements,...
(sailing boat class, from the archaic Norwegian word for "youngster")
See also
- Lists of English words of international origin
- List of English words of Swedish origin
- List of English words of Scandinavian origin
- List of English words of Old Norse origin
- The category of words with Norwegian derivations at WiktionaryWiktionaryWiktionary is a multilingual, web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in 158 languages...
, Wikipedia's sister project - The category of words with Danish derivations at WiktionaryWiktionaryWiktionary is a multilingual, web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in 158 languages...
, Wikipedia's sister project - The category of words with Swedish derivations at WiktionaryWiktionaryWiktionary is a multilingual, web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in 158 languages...
, Wikipedia's sister project