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List of English words of Scandinavian origin

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This is a list of English words that are probably of modern Scandinavian origin. This list excludes words borrowed directly from Old Norse; for those, see list of English words of Old Norse origin.

English words of Scandinavian origin

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English words of Danish origin

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  • aquavit, "a clear Scandinavian liquor flavored with caraway seeds"[1]
  • fjeld, "a barren plateau of the Scandinavian upland"[2]
  • flense, "to strip of blubber or skin"[3]
  • Ombudsman, “Ombudsmand”
  • Window, “vindue”
  • scrike, "shriek"[4]
  • torsk, "codfish"[5]
  • husband, “hus” is house in Danish, “bonde” is a type of farmer in Danish. Source: Kasper
  • egg, "æg"

English words of Norwegian origin

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  • aquavit, "a clear Scandinavian liquor flavored with caraway seeds"[6]
  • brisling, "sprat"[7]
  • fjord, "a narrow inlet of the sea between cliffs or steep slopes"[8]
  • flense, "to strip of blubber or skin"[9]
  • floe, "floating ice formed in a large sheet on the surface of a body of water"[10]
  • gravlax, "salmon cured especially with salt, sugar, pepper, and dill and often additional ingredients (such as fennel, coriander, lime, and vodka or aquavit)"[11]
  • klister, "a soft wax used on skis"[12]
  • krill, "planktonic crustaceans and their larvae (order or suborder Euphausiacea and especially genus Euphausia) that constitute the principal food of baleen whales"[13]
  • lemming, "any of various small short-tailed furry-footed rodents (such as genera Lemmus and Dicrostonyx) of circumpolar distribution that are notable for population fluctuations and recurrent mass migrations"[14]
  • lefse, "a large thin potato pancake served buttered and folded"[15]
  • lutefisk, "dried codfish that has been soaked in a water and lye solution before cooking"[16]
  • murk, "gloom, darkness; c. 1300, myrke, from Old Norse myrkr 'darkness,' from Proto-Germanic *merkwjo, Danish mǿrk 'darkness',"[17]
  • murky, "dark, obscure, gloomy; mid-14c., from murk + -y,"[18]
  • scrike, "shriek"[19]
  • ski, "one of a pair of narrow strips of wood, metal, or plastic curving upward in front that are used especially for gliding over snow"[20]
  • slalom, "skiing in a zigzag or wavy course between upright obstacles (such as flags)"[21]
  • telemark, "a turn in skiing in which the outside ski is advanced considerably ahead of the other ski and then turned inward at a steadily widening angle until the turn is complete"[22]
  • torsk, "codfish"[23]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Definition of AQUAVIT". 12 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Definition of FJELD".
  3. ^ "Definition of FLENSE".
  4. ^ "Definition of SCRIKE".
  5. ^ "Definition of TORSK".
  6. ^ "Definition of AQUAVIT". 12 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Definition of BRISLING".
  8. ^ "Definition of FJORD". January 2024.
  9. ^ "Definition of FLENSE".
  10. ^ "Definition of FLOE". 2 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Definition of GRAVLAX".
  12. ^ "Definition of KLISTER".
  13. ^ "Definition of KRILL". 21 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Definition of LEMMING". 29 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Definition of LEFSE".
  16. ^ "Definition of LUTEFISK".
  17. ^ </ "Murk | Etymology of murk by etymonline".
  18. ^ "Murky/ | Search Online Etymology Dictionary".
  19. ^ "Definition of SCRIKE".
  20. ^ "Definition of SKI". 2 January 2024.
  21. ^ "Definition of SLALOM". 20 November 2023.
  22. ^ "Definition of TELEMARK". 27 February 2024.
  23. ^ "Definition of TORSK".