Sachiko

marky

My favorites are the 和製英語　（わせいえいご）
Words that come from English, but have no (or different) English meaning… like コンセント. (which means outlet or plug, not consent)

Most loan words for science also come to Japan prior to WWII also came from German, or in a few cases, Dutch. The example of virus has already been listed, but I think it is also true for:

ナトリウム　from natrium, (Na, sodium)
ゲル　from gel, with the German hard “g” not the “jell” pronunciation of English

From Portuguese
てんぷら（also spelled 天麩羅)
タバコ (also spelled 煙草), from “tabaco”
金平糖 from “confeito”
合羽 from “capa”
クリスト from “Christo”
パン from “pan”
ボタン from “botao”
オランダ from “Olanda”
イギリス from “Inglez”
ミイラ from “mirra”
サンバ from “samba”
From Dutch
ランドセル from “ransel”
カン (also spelled 缶) from “kan”
ビール from “bier”
コーヒー from “koffie”
アルコール from “alcohol”
メス from “mes”
ペンキ from “pek”
オルゴール from “orgel”
ゴム from “gom”
ガラス from “glass” (only used for the material, otherwise グラス)
ニス from “vernis”
サテン from “satijn”
ホック from “hoek”
コルク from “kurk”
アルカリ from “alkali”
モルモット from “marmot”
カトリック from “katholick”
ベルギー from “Belgie”
From German
ビールス from “Virus”
ワクチン from “Vakzin”
アレルギー from “Allergie”
エネルギー from “Energie”
ホルモン from “Hormon”
クレゾール from “Kresol”
ギプス from “Gips”
レントゲン from “Roentgen”
ノイローゼ from “Neurose”
カルテ from “Karte”
リュックサック from “Rucksack”
メトロノーム from “Metronom”
カフェイン from “Kaffein”
ニコチン from “Nicotine”
ナフタリン from “Naphthalin”
アルバイト from “Arbeit”, which just means “work”
ゲレンデ from “Gelaende”
ゼッケン from “Zeichen”
テーマ from “Thema”
タクト from “Taktstock”
From Russian
イクラ from “ikra”
ノルマ rfom “norma”
インテリ from “intelligentsiya”
ペチカ deom “pechka”
From Spanish
マリファナ from “marijuana”
ゲリラ from “guerilla”
カナリア from “canaria”
フラメンコ from “flamenco”
サルサ from “salsa”
ルンバ from “rumba”
タンゴ from “tango”
From French
(センチ)メートル from “(centi)metre”
アンケート from “enquete”
クーデター from “coup d’etat”
ズボン from “jupon”, which means “briefs or skirt” in French, but “trousers” (BrE)/”pants” (AmE) in Japanese.
マント from “manteau”
ルージュ from “rouge”
ブルジョア from “bourgeois”
エチケット from “etiquette”
リムジン from “limousine”
バカンス from “vacances”
シネマ from “cinema”
ジャンル from “genre”
コンクール from “concours”
デッサン from “dessin”
ビオロン from “violon”
アンコール from “encore”
ルーレット from “roulette”
グロテスク from “grotesque”
カロリー from “calorie”
グルメ from “gourmet”
アラカルト from “a la carte”
カフェー from “cafe”
カフェオレ from “cafe au lait”
ショコラ from “chocolat”
クロワッサン from “croissant”
エクレア from “eclair”
タルト from “tarte”
ガトー from “gateau”
パルフェ from “parfait”
ババロア from “bavarois”
フォンデュ from “fondue”
フォアグラ from “foie gras”
ヒレ from “filet”
マリネ from “marine”
ソテー from “saute”
ムニエル from “meuniere”
ルー from “roux” (in cooking)
コンソメ from “consomme”
ピラフ from “pilaf”
マヨネーズ from “mayonnaise”
オムレツ from “omelette”
クレソン from “cresson”
ピーマン from “piment”
ブーケ from “bouquet”
セロハン from “cellophane”
アトリエ from “atelier”
スイス from “Suisse”
From French via English
(different pronunciation)
デビュー from “debut”
アマチュア from “amateur”
クレープ from “crepe”
ナイーブ from “naive”
From Italian
イタリア from “Italia”
パスタ from “pasta”
スパゲッティ from “spagetti”
マカロニ from “macaroni”
ピッザ from “pizza”
リゾット from “risoto”
サラミ from “salami”
コンチェルト from “concerto”
フォルテ from “forte”
ソロ from “solo”
デュオ from “duo”
トリオ from “trio”
ピアノ from “piano”
ヴィオラ from “viola”
チェロ from “cello”
チェレスタ from “celesta”
バレリーナ from “ballerina”
From Latin
ウイルス from “virus”
ユダヤ from “Judaea”

from dutch, german カルテ medical chart

i heard that 天麩羅 (てんぷら) came from portuguese too (but since it was so long ago there is kanji for it). i never heard what word it came from, but when i checked Wiki it said it came from the latin phrase “ad tempora quadragesimae” which means ‘in the season of the 40’s’ meaning 42 to days to easter in which time catholics can’t eat meat. so if this Wiki is accurate, the portuguese were battering up veggies and the buddhist japanese were probably jumped on that right away.)

marky

also from Germany
rentogen–X ray　　レントゲン
arubaito–part time job　　アルバイト

from Portugal
pan　　　　　　パン

from Holland　　
kiosk 　　　　　

my favourite borrowed word / influence from somewhere else is sebiro from Saville Row in London means suit!!
As most know we do not say we are wearing a Saville Row!!

how this came about does anyone know? guess its back to the Meiji time.

however there is kanji for sebiro its 背広