Romanian words from Ottoman Turkish
10 Romanian words with Ottoman Turkish in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
cafea
It is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish قهوه (kahve, “coffee”), from Arabic قَهْوَة (qahwa), a word Ciorănescu dates before the 17th century. DELR adds that the Turkish word came from Arabic through…
cauc
1. The word for the cap is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish قاوق (kavuk, “tall padded cap”). The word spread in the Balkans: Ciorănescu and Șăineanu compare Albanian kauk, Serbo-Croatian kauk and…
cutie
It is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish قوطی (kutu), according to Ciorănescu, Wiktionary, Scriban and Șăineanu. DELR and DEX add Modern Greek κουτί (koutí) as a source, and DELR also names Bulgarian…
hai
The interjection of urging is a shortening from Romanian haide, which is from Ottoman Turkish هایده (hayde). Ciorănescu adds that this short form was confused with a variant of ha. Scriban derives…
haide
It is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish هایده (hayde), or هایدی (haydi), a word of urging. NODEX also names Bulgarian. Tietze derives the Turkish word from the exclamation Turkish ha or hay with a…
marț
1. The word for the game term is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish مرس (mars, “double win at backgammon”). Ciorănescu traces the Turkish word to Italian marcio (“rotten”) or its dialect form marzo…
naiba
Its origin is disputed, and DEX calls it unknown. Ciorănescu thinks it probably borrowed from Ottoman Turkish نائبه (naibe, “misfortune”), a word of Arabic origin, through Romani naibah (“bad…
oină
1. The word for the ball game is of uncertain origin: DEX and MDA2 call it unknown, and DLR only compares the Turkish word. Ciorănescu, after Bogrea, sees it as borrowed from Kipchak oyn (“game”)…
puști
It is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish پوشت (puşt, “debauched”). DEX 2009 and NODEX only compare the Turkish word, and Tiktin calls the source probable. The Turkish word, whose first sense was a…
rahat
It is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish راحت (rahat, “rest, comfort”), from Arabic رَاحَة (rāḥa, “rest, ease”). Nişanyan derives the Arabic noun from the verb أراح (arāḥa, “to take breath”), from روح…