nudzh

List of English words of Polish origin

This is a list English words of Polish origin, that is words used in the English language that were borrowed or derived, either directly or indirectly, from Polish. Several Polish words have entered English slang via Yiddish, brought by Ashkenazi Jews migrating from Poland to North America. Other English words were indirectly derived from Polish via Russian or West European languages, such as French, German or Dutch. The Polish words themselves often come from other languages, such as German or Turkish. Borrowings from Polish tend to be mostly words referring to staples of Polish cuisine, names of Polish folk dances or specialist, e.g. horse-related, terminology. Among the words of Polish origin there are several words that derive from Polish geographic names and ethnonyms, including the name Polska, "Poland", itself.

Derived from common words

Word	Meaning	Etymology	References
Babka, baba	A leavened coffee or rum cake flavored with orange rind, rum, almonds, and raisins	Polish babka, a yeast cake ← diminutive of baba, "old woman"	AHD: babka, AHD: baba
Bigos	A Polish stew made with meat and cabbage	Polish bigos ← possibly German begossen, "doused"	AHD, SWO
Britzka, britska	A type of horse-drawn carriage	Polish bryczka ← diminutive of bryka, "wagon"	1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Britzska
Gherkin	A small cucumber	Dutch gurken, plural of gurk, "cucumber" ← East Frisian augurk ← possibly Polish ogórek ← possibly Medieval Greek αγγούριον, angourion ← possibly Persian angārah	AHD, OED
Hetman	Historically, a Polish, Czech or Cossak military leader	Ukrainian гетьман, get'man ← Polish hetman ← Czech hejtman ← German Hauptmann ← Middle High German houbet, "head" + man, "man"	AHD, SWO
Horde	A nomadic tribe; a crowd or swarm	Middle French horde ← Polish horda ← North-West Turkic ordï, "camp" or "residence"	AHD, MW
Kielbasa	A spicy smoked Polish sausage	Polish kiełbasa, "sausage" ← Turkish kül bastï, "grilled cutlet", literally "pressed on the ashes"	AHD, OED
Konik	A horse breed	Polish konik ← diminutive of koń, "horse"
Nudge, noodge, nudzh	To annoy, pester	Yiddish nudyen, "to pester, bore" ← Polish nudzić	AHD
Ogonek	A hook-shaped diacritic	Polish ogonek ← diminutive of ogon, "tail"
Paczki	A Polish jelly doughnut	Polish pączki, plural of pączek ← diminutive of pąk, "bud"	AHD
Pierogi	A semicircular dumpling of unleavened dough with any of various fillings	Polish pierogi, plural of pieróg, "dumpling"	AHD, MW
Rendzina	A dark, grayish-brown soil that develops under grass on limestone and chalk	Polish rędzina ← rzędzić, "to chat"	AHD, MW
Sejm	Polish diet or parliament	Polish sejm, "diet" or "assembly"	OED
Schav	A sorrel soup	Yiddish שטשאַוו, shtshav, "sorrel" ← Polish szczaw	AHD
Schlub, shlub	A clumsy, stupid or unattractive person	Yiddish zhlob or zhlub, "yokel", "boor" ← Polish żłób, "manger"	AHD, MW
Schmatte	A rag	Yiddish shmate ← Polish szmata	AHD
Schmuck, shmuck	A clumsy or stupid person	Yiddish shmok, vulgar for "penis" ← Polish smok, "dragon"	AHD, OED
Uhlan, ulan	A cavalryman	German Uhlan ← Polish ułan ← Turkish oğlan, "boy" or "servant"	OED, MW
Zloty	Polish currency	Polish złoty, "golden"	AHD, OED

Derived from geographic names and ethnonyms

Word	Meaning	Etymology	References
Alla polacca	Like a polonaise (in musical notation)	Italian alla polacca, "in the Polish manner, Polish style"	MW
Bialy	A flat, round baked roll or bagel topped with onion flakes	Yiddish bialy ← short for bialystoker, "of Białystok", a town in north-eastern Poland	AHD, MW
Cracovian	A mathematical symbol used in cracovian calculus	Polish krakowian ← Kraków, a city in southern Poland, former capital
Cracovienne, krakowiak	A lively Polish folk dance	French (danse) cracovienne, "Kraków (dance)", feminine of cracovien, "of Kraków"; Polish krakowiak, "inhabitant of Kraków"	MW: cracovienne, MW: krakowiak
Crackowe, cracowe, crakow, crakowe,	A long, pointed shoe popular in the 14th-15th centuries	Middle English crakowe ← Cracow, the English name of Kraków	MW
Czech	Of or related to the Czech Republic or its people	Polish Czech, "a Czech or Bohemian man" ← Czech Čech	AHD
Mazurka	A Polish dance or a piece of music for such a dance	Russian мазурка, mazurka ← Polish (tańczyć) mazurka, "(to dance) the mazurka", accusative of mazurek ← diminutive of Mazur, "inhabitant of Masovia or Masuria", regions in north-eastern Poland	AHD, OED, SWO
Polack	A Pole; formerly a neutral term, now considered offensive	Polish Polak, "Pole"	AHD, OED
Polonaise	A stately, marchlike Polish dance or a piece of music for such a dance	French (danse) polonaise, "Polish (dance)", feminine of polonais, "Polish"	OED
Polonaise	A woman's overdress popular in the 18th century	French (robe à la) polonaise, "Polish (style dress)", feminine of polonais, "Polish"	OED
Polonaise	Sprinkled with browned butter and bread crumbs (of food, mostly vegetables)	French polonaise, feminine of polonais, "Polish"	OED, MW
Polonium	Chemical element with atomic number 84	Medieval Latin Polonia, "Poland"	AHD
Polska	A Scandinavian folk dance or a piece of music for such a dance	Swedish polska ← feminine of polsk, "Polish"	MW
Poulaine	(The pointed toe of) a crackowe	Middle French (soulier à la) poulaine, "Polish (style shoe)" ← feminine of poulain, "Polish"	MW
Silesaurus	An extinct genus of dinosauriform reptiles from the Late Triassic	Medieval Latin Silesia ← Polish Śląsk, a region in south-western Poland + Classical Greek saura, "lizard"
Varsoviana, varsovienne	A graceful dance similar to a mazurka	Spanish varsoviana ← feminine of varsoviano; French varsovienne ← feminine of varsovien; both from Medieval Latin varsovianus, "of Warsaw" (Polish: Warszawa), the capital city of Poland	MW