Borrowed Words: How Languages Share Their Vocabulary

Look at these three ordinary English words: pyjamas, algebra, café. You use them every day — but did you know that not one of them was originally English? Pyjamas arrived from Hindi and Urdu (pāy-jāma, meaning leg-garment). Algebra came from Arabic (al-jabr, meaning the reunion of broken parts). Café was lifted directly from French. These words are called loanwords — words that one language has borrowed from another and made its own. Before you read on, think about this: if English already had its own words for things, why would it ever borrow words from other languages?