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Recent Examples of loanword
Which brings us to the ménage à trois — for some things, only a French loanword will do — between Hayley, Yasmin, and Henry, which exists at the opposite end of the boundary-setting spectrum.
—
Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 26 Jan. 2026
For instance, people, a French loanword, may be spelled peple, pepill, poeple, or poepul.
—Big Think, 10 Apr. 2025
The newest dictionary additions include loanwords from Southeast Asia, South Africa and Ireland.
—Peter Guo, NBC news, 27 Mar. 2025
In fact, Mandarin itself used thousands of loanwords from Japanese and English when new disciplines such as sociology and natural science entered China’s curricula a mere century ago.
—Tenzin Dorjee, Foreign Affairs, 28 Nov. 2023
During this period, more than 10,000 loanwords from French entered the English language, mostly in domains where the aristocracy held sway: the arts, military, medicine, law and religion.
—Phillip M. Carter, Fortune Well, 12 June 2023
Most English loanwords borrow from languages that, like English, use the Latin alphabet.
—Sarah Bunin Benor, The Conversation, 21 May 2020
With the mega-success of Starbucks and its various coffee competitors, BARISTA has transformed from a somewhat niche Italian loanword to a term most everyone not only knows but uses regularly.
—Ryan P. Smith, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Dec. 2019
Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 26 Jan. 2026
For instance, people, a French loanword, may be spelled peple, pepill, poeple, or poepul.
—Big Think, 10 Apr. 2025
The newest dictionary additions include loanwords from Southeast Asia, South Africa and Ireland.
—Peter Guo, NBC news, 27 Mar. 2025
In fact, Mandarin itself used thousands of loanwords from Japanese and English when new disciplines such as sociology and natural science entered China’s curricula a mere century ago.
—Tenzin Dorjee, Foreign Affairs, 28 Nov. 2023
During this period, more than 10,000 loanwords from French entered the English language, mostly in domains where the aristocracy held sway: the arts, military, medicine, law and religion.
—Phillip M. Carter, Fortune Well, 12 June 2023
Most English loanwords borrow from languages that, like English, use the Latin alphabet.
—Sarah Bunin Benor, The Conversation, 21 May 2020
With the mega-success of Starbucks and its various coffee competitors, BARISTA has transformed from a somewhat niche Italian loanword to a term most everyone not only knows but uses regularly.
—Ryan P. Smith, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Dec. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for loanword
Noun
-
Are these neologisms diagnosing modern phenomena or illuminating preëxisting cultural realities?—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
New Yorker,
2 Dec. 2025
-
These neologisms weren’t just clever.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The author, a professor named Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, proved to have a knack not just for provocative legal essays but for coinages, too.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
People have been called pedants since the early modern period—pedante is a fifteenth-century Italian coinage for a professional teacher of Latin literature and rhetoric—but have been acting pedantically for millennia.—
Clare Bucknell,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The exhibit’s title is derived from a Spanish colloquialism.—
Uwa Ede-Osifo,
Dallas Morning News,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Ways to learn a new language Apps are a good way to learn the basics and proper pronunciation, but many colloquialisms, abbreviations and grammatically informal expressions used by fluent or native speakers aren’t taught on apps or in language classes.—
Cody Godwin,
USA Today,
12 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Special military operation is Russia’s official euphemism for the country’s invasion of Ukraine.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
30 Apr. 2026
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Discussing why people use euphemisms online prepares children to pause and ask questions when unfamiliar terms appear.—
Sharlette A. Kellum,
The Conversation,
6 Apr. 2026
Noun
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During the four-month primary campaign, Raman offered withering critiques of Bass’ first term, saying the mayor failed to act with urgency on homelessness, apartment construction, street repairs and the exodus of entertainment jobs from the region.—
Noah Goldberg,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2026
-
Gonzales, a 43-year-old two-term state senator from Denver, has framed her candidacy in large part as a progressive critique and challenge to the Democratic Party’s more moderate standard-bearers, like Hickenlooper.—
Seth Klamann,
Denver Post,
7 June 2026
Noun
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The lens widened further to embrace categories of practice not conventionally regarded as art, most prominently, craft; here, too, the art establishment focused on textiles and ceramics engaged with an existing modernism, as opposed to the 1970s focus on regional and communal networks.—
Katy Siegel,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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His youngest child, Gertrude Stein, would become a legend, a leading figure of literary modernism, possibly the only female avant-garde writer in the world to have her name up in lights in Times Square.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Loanword.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/loanword. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
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