ORIGIN OF WORDS IN THE ENGLISH WORDSTOCK


1.1. Give the origin to the following loanwords and translate them into Czech, e.g. coup d’état
French origin, státní převrat/revoluce:


coup d’état, kindergarten, tête-à-tête, blitzkrieg, enfant terrible, persona non grata, leitmotiv


1.2. Give the origin to the following, e.g. abracadabra – Latin:


abracadabra, operetta, machine, chocolate, talisman, coffee, mango, yoghurt, telephone, dollar,
khaki, mazurka, polka, waltz, decathlon, heptathlon, pentathlon, skijøring, telemark, slalom, axel
(in sense of a ‘figure skating jump‘), kangaroo, bronco, gorilla, rebook, jaguar (in sense of ‘a
large cat’), condor, veranda, chauffeur, beauty, glamour, umbrella, squaw, tomahawk, school,
university, geography, hospital, blood, ski, fiasco, yacht, ombudsman, sauna, tundra, jungle, tsar,
crèche, rallye (in sense of an ‘automobile competition’), Grand Prix, double, backgammon, drill,
corduroy, knight, scout, tour de force, caravan, sandal, kung fu, tai chi, aikido, karate, taek won
do, anorak, igloo, kayak, canoe, parka, algebra, Yeti


1.3. Explain the meaning of the following, e.g. AD – the abbreviation for ‘anno Domini’, used to
indicate that a time division falls within the Christian era, Latin origin:


AD, i.e., p.p., a.m., p.m., etc., alter ego, bona fide, ex cathedra, ex officio, ad hoc, via


1.4. Tell the difference (origin) of the following doublets, e.g. sanguinary – Latin origin -
bloody – Germanic origin, both used in sense of ‘consisting of blood’:


sanguinary – bloody:

domestic – home:

amicable – friendly:


1.5. Give adjectives of Latin origin corresponding to the following nouns, e.g. mouth - oral:

mouth, eye, tongue, kidney, tooth, head, ear

horse, ox, sheep, cow

house, town, mind, egg, sea, island, tree


1.6. Form adjectives from the following nouns. Give each adjective a corresponding adjective of
Latin origin, e.g. friend: friendly (adj.) – amicable (Lat. adj.):


friend, blood, home, brother, earth, father, heaven, milk, mother, night, water, woman, man, truth,
time, day, body, cloud, hand, life, room, war


1.7. Explain (or translate) the meaning of the following pairs of words and give each of them the
corresponding pronunciation, e.g. abbreviate /əˈbriːvieɪt/ = to make a word/phrase/name shorter by
leaving out letters; abridge /əˈbrɪdʒ/ = to make a book/play shorter by leaving parts out:


abbreviate abridge

cavalry chivalry

captain chieftain

cart chart

fragile frail

corpse corps

liquor liqueur

rout route

salon saloon

shade shadow

of off

whit with

dike ditch

balm balsam

hospital hotel/hostel

major mayor

pauper poor

senior sir

canal channel

skirt shirt

screw shrew

nay no

ward guard



1.8. Find borrowings from French, German, Italian, Spanish and Yiddish for the following words:

French: výstřih (décolletage), šéfkuchař, rohlík, styčný důstojník, odpolední představení, rokle,
elegantní, lehátko v lehátkovém voze, zármutek, kamzík, dámské prádlo

German: játrovka (liverwurst), párek, řízek, lahůdkářství, třešňovice, křemen, kýč, přehláska

Italian: sloupoví (portico or colonnade), žula, malebný, strofa

Spanish: náklad (cargo), soudruh, polodivoký kůň, ohrada, piknik s opékáním masa, slavnost

Yiddish: houska ve tvaru pneumatiky (bagel), ňouma, sladké řeči (při přesvědčování zákazníka)


1.9. Find at least three words with Czech origin: