The Oxford Dictionary Of Foreign Words And Phrases

Entries provide definitions and information on the origins, history, and usage of terms of foreign origin in English, including words in common use and artistic and scientific vocabulary.

This updated and revised edition is the authoritative guide to foreign words and phrases used in contemporary British and American English. Drawn from over 40 languages, the 6,000 entries detail the history of each word or phrase and provide selected quotations to clearly illustrate their use in the English language.

A fascinating guide to English's exotic side...

This comprehensive reference includes detailed information on the spelling, history, and usage of thousands of foreign words and phrases used by English speakers. There are words from more than forty languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, and Yiddish. Terms from cooking, fashion, and music jostle with others from fine arts, history, law, politics, business, and travel in this great reference to words from around the globe.

"A guide to the foreign words and phrases that other dictionaries usually omit features more than five thousand comprehensive listings, including words and phrases from more than thirty-five languages." -- Amazon.com.

"Kudos (Greek), encomiums (Latin), and accolades (French) to the authors for their enlightening and amusing lexicon, a testament that English is the most cheerfully democratic and hospitable language ever cobbled together."-Richard Lederer, author of The Miracle of Language From angst to zydeco, the ultimate guide to foreign terms and phrases This handy, practical, and browsable A-to-Z reference tells you all you need to know to understand, pronounce, and appreciate the nearly 2,000 foreign words and phrases commonly used by speakers and writers of English. The Browser's Dictionary covers a wide variety of subject areas and includes loan-words from more than sixty languages around the world, such as: Latin (desideratum) * the romance languages (rapprochement, macho, imbroglio) * German (gestalt) * Russian (gulag) * Hebrew (shibboleth) * Yiddish (shtick) * Persian (tambura) * Hindi (purdah) * Arabic (loofah) * Hawaiian (kanaka) * Creole French (zydeco) * and Japanese (netsuke) In addition, each entry provides: * A guide to pronunciation using easy-to-understand transcriptions from ordinary English * Comprehensive literal and idiomatic definitions * The word's source language, as well as its literal meaning The Browser's Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases is sure to become a favorite reference for anyone with an interest in words and language.

This updated and revised edition is the authoritative guide to foreign words and phrases used in contemporary British and American English. Drawn from over 40 languages, the 6,000 entries detail the history of each word or phrase and provide selected quotations to clearly illustrate their use in the English language.