List of English words of Polish origin
Word Meaning Etymology References
Alla polacca Like a polonaise ( in musical notation ) Italian alla polacca , in the Polish manner , Polish style MW
Bialy A flat , round baked roll or bagel topped with onion flakes Yiddish bialy ← short for bialystoker , of Białystok , a town in north-eastern Poland AHD , MW
Cracovian A mathematical symbol used in cracovian calculus Polish krakowian ← Cracow , a city in southern Poland , former capital
Cracovienne , krakowiak A lively Polish folk dance French ( danse ) cracovienne , Kraków ( dance ) , feminine of cracovien , of Cracow ; Polish krakowiak , inhabitant of Cracow MW : cracovienne , MW : krakowiak
Crackowe , cracowe , crakow A long , pointed shoe popular in the 14th-15th centuries Middle English crakowe ← Cracow , the English name of Kraków MW
Czech Of or related to the Czech Republic or its people Polish Czech , a Czech or Bohemian man ← Czech Čech AHD
Mazurka A Polish dance or a piece of music for such a dance Russian мазурка , mazurka ← Polish ( tańczyć ) mazurka , ( to dance ) the mazurka , accusative of mazurek ← diminutive of Mazur , inhabitant of Masovia or Masuria , regions in north-eastern Poland AHD , OED , SWO
Polack A Pole ; formerly a neutral term , now considered offensive ( see also List of ethnic slurs ) Polish Polak , Pole AHD , OED
Polonaise A stately , marchlike Polish dance or a piece of music for such a dance French ( danse ) polonaise , Polish ( dance ) , feminine of polonais , Polish OED
Polonaise A woman 's overdress popular in the 18th century French ( robe à la ) polonaise , Polish ( style dress ) , feminine of polonais , Polish OED
Polonaise Sprinkled with browned butter and bread crumbs ( of food , mostly vegetables ) French polonaise , feminine of polonais , Polish OED , MW
Polonium Chemical element with atomic number 84 Medieval Latin Polonia , Poland AHD
Polska A Scandinavian folk dance or a piece of music for such a dance Swedish polska ← feminine of polsk , Polish MW
Poulaine ( The pointed toe of ) a crackowe shoe ( see above ) Middle French ( soulier à la ) poulaine , Polish ( style shoe ) ← feminine of poulain , Polish MW
Varsoviana , varsovienne A graceful dance similar to a mazurka Spanish varsoviana ← feminine of varsoviano ; French varsovienne ← feminine of varsovien ; both from Medieval Latin varsovianus , of Warsaw ( Polish : Warszawa ) , the capital city of Poland MW
Derived from geographic names and ethnonyms
See also : Name of Poland
This is a list English words of Polish origin, that is words used in the English language that were borrowed or derived, either directly or indirectly, from Polish. Several Polish words have entered English slang via Yiddish, brought by Ashkenazi Jews migrating from Poland to North America. Other English words were indirectly derived from Polish via Russian or West European languages, such as French, German or Dutch. The Polish words themselves often come from other languages, such as German or Turkish. Borrowings from Polish tend to be mostly words referring to staples of Polish cuisine, names of Polish folk dances or specialist, e.g. horse-related, terminology. Among the words of Polish origin there are several words that derive from Polish geographic names and ethnonyms, including the name Polska, Poland, itself.