Cockroach, lantern, algebra, sabbath – these are only a few of the loanwords that we use in the English language without them striking us as being particularly unusual. Appropriately, ‘loanword’ itself is a loan translation (a so-called calque) of the German Lehnwort (Lehn from leihen = ‘lend’ + Wort = ‘word’).
Throughout history, English has borrowed words from other languages, through strong cultural links or historical events like the Norman Conquest in 1066, manifested linguistically through the adoption of Norman French vocabulary. It is also often the case that some cultures are more dominant than others in particular fields, and this dominance means that they shape the language in this area beyond their geographical borders.
Via Evdokia Roka
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