French words from Ottoman Turkish
5 French words with Ottoman Turkish in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
café
It is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish قهوه (kahve), from Arabic قهوة (qahwa), a word which, according to Littré and Devic, named the drink rather than the bean, and had long been a name of wine. Rey…
dey
It is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish دایی (dāi, “maternal uncle”), a word that became an honorary title of the governors of Tunis and Algiers. According to Rey, the Ottomans seem first to have given…
minaret
It is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish مناره (minare), itself from Arabic مَنَارَة (manāra, “lighthouse, candlestick”), whence “mosque tower”, derived from a verb meaning “to shine”. The tower may have…
sorbet
It is probably borrowed from Italian sorbetto (“drink of the Turks”), which is from Ottoman Turkish شربت (şerbet, “cooling drink”), from Arabic شَرْبَة (šarba, “drink”), from شَرِبَ (šariba, “to…
yogourt
It is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish یوغورت (yoğurt), modern Turkish yoğurt. The TLFi explains the form yaourt from a Turkish variant yoourt. The DHLF and the Grand Robert instead have the word come…