Word origins quiz
English borrows words from everywhere. Can you trace them?
10 multiple-choice questions, with the answer explained after each one.
Answer each question, see why, and beat your best score.
All 10 questions and answers
Want to check an answer or run the quiz out loud? Every question is here, with the answer hidden until you open it.
- The word 'robot' comes from a Czech word meaning…
- Thinker
- Forced labour
- Machine
- Metal man
Show answer
Forced labour. It was coined for Karel Čapek's 1920 play R.U.R.
- 'Shampoo' comes from a Hindi word meaning…
- Foam
- To press or knead
- Hair
- To wash
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To press or knead. It originally meant a head massage.
- 'Kangaroo' comes from which Aboriginal language?
- Guugu Yimithirr
- Noongar
- Wiradjuri
- Dharug
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Guugu Yimithirr. It was recorded near present-day Cooktown in 1770.
- 'Quarantine' comes from the Italian for…
- Sickness
- Closed door
- Forty days
- Island
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Forty days. Ships had to wait 40 days in Venice during plague outbreaks.
- 'Jungle' comes from which language?
- Malay
- Hindi (from Sanskrit)
- Portuguese
- Swahili
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Hindi (from Sanskrit). Jangal originally meant wasteland or forest.
- 'Avocado' comes from which language?
- Quechua
- Nahuatl (Aztec)
- Spanish
- Arabic
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Nahuatl (Aztec). From ahuacatl.
- 'Boomerang' comes from which Aboriginal language?
- Dharug (Sydney area)
- Yolŋu
- Kaurna
- Pitjantjatjara
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Dharug (Sydney area). It's one of the first Aboriginal words adopted into English.
- 'Bungalow' comes from a word meaning…
- In the style of Bengal
- One storey
- Small house
- Beach hut
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In the style of Bengal. From the Hindi/Bengali bangla.
- 'Ketchup' probably comes from a word in which language?
- English
- French
- Dutch
- Hokkien Chinese (via Malay)
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Hokkien Chinese (via Malay). The original was a fermented fish sauce.
- 'Salary' comes from Latin, related to the word for…
- Silver
- Salt
- Bread
- Soldier
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Salt. The often-repeated story about soldiers paid in salt is probably a myth.