English words from Low German
5 English words with Low German in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
cranberry
Apparently an American English adaptation of Low German Kraanbere, from Low German kraan (“crane”) + bere (“berry”), partly translated as English crane and berry. The reason for the name is unknown…
dollar
It is borrowed from Low German daler, from German Taler (later Thaler), short for Joachimstaler, a coin first minted in 1519 from the silver of a mine at Joachimsthal (now Jáchymov) in Bohemia…
girl
It is inherited from Middle English gurle (also girle, gerle), “a child or young person of either sex”, of uncertain origin. The OED proposed an unrecorded Old English *gyrele, a diminutive from…
knapsack
It is borrowed from Low German Knappsack, probably from knappen “to eat”, literally “to crack, snap”, which is of imitative origin, and Sack “bag”. Compare Dutch knapzak. It is related to sack.
ogle
It is probably borrowed from Low German oegeln, a frequentative of oegen “to look at”, from oog or oege “eye”. Random House derives it instead from Dutch. It is related to eye.