List of English words of Czech origin

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This is a list of words coming to

Bohemisms
.

  • Absurdistan (in Czech Absurdistán) – word created by Eastern Bloc dissidents, passed into English mainly through works of Václav Havel.
  • diacritical mark
    , literally "little hook", e.g. č is letter c having háček. Also known as "caron".
  • Hussite
    catapult; houf meaning crowd or band
  • kolache
    – from koláč or koláček.
  • koczwarismSexual asphyxiophilia in medical slang; after František Kočvara
  • pistol – from píšťala, a 15th-century Hussite firearm (alternative sources have been suggested, see the article for details)
  • polka – from Polák or polský, a Czech dance named in remembrance of the November Uprising of 1830; or from Půlka, in English half because of its tempo
  • pram – from Czech prám, a flatbottomed boat, through Dutch praam and Middle Dutch praem [1]
  • R.U.R.
    from the 1920s.
  • Semtex – a plastic explosive named after Semtín, part of the city of Pardubice, Czech Republic, location of its manufacturer.

Sometimes it is mistakenly claimed

hocus-pocus has Czech origin since pokus means trial (attempt) or experiment
.

References

  1. ^ "Pram Definitions | What does pram mean? | Best 10 Definitions of Pram".

See also

  • Lists of English words of international origin