Meaning & use
anglicisms
Last updated
“anglicisms” is a form of “anglicism”.
Meaning
nounplural
English words, phrases or ways of expressing things that appear in another language, or English idioms typical of Britain.
Grammar: This is the plural form; the singular is anglicism.
Patterns
- anglicisms in a language
- anglicisms such as something
Many German speakers happily use anglicisms such as 'Meeting' and 'Laptop'.
The magazine avoids anglicisms and uses native terms wherever possible.
Some critics complain that anglicisms are crowding out traditional vocabulary.
Common combinations
- common anglicisms
- Common anglicisms include 'parking' and 'weekend' in many European languages.
- borrow anglicisms
- Marketing teams often borrow anglicisms to sound modern.
- avoid anglicisms
- The editor told us to avoid anglicisms in the translation.
- a flood of anglicisms
- Purists fear a flood of anglicisms in everyday speech.
- anglicisms in Spanish
- There are many anglicisms in Spanish business vocabulary.
Synonyms and how they differ
- loanwords
- Loanwords is broader, covering borrowed words from any language, while anglicisms refers only to English borrowings.
- borrowings
- Borrowings is a general linguistic term for any adopted word, and does not say which language it came from.
- Englishisms
- Englishisms is a less common and more casual word that can sound jokey, while anglicisms is the standard term.
Word family
Commonly confused: anglicisms or Americanisms?
anglicisms vs Americanisms
Americanisms are expressions typical of American English, while anglicisms come from English in general or from Britain.
Practice
Italian newspapers are full of ____ such as 'okay' and 'weekend'.
Choose one answer.
Anglicisms are English words used in other languages. Gallicisms are French borrowings, and archaisms are old-fashioned words, so neither fits.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “anglicisms”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.