This is a list of words coming to English from or via Czech, or originating in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, often called Czech lands. Words and expressions derived from the Czech language are called Bohemisms.
- Absurdistan (in Czech Absurdistán) â word created by Eastern Bloc dissidents, passed into English mainly through works of Václav Havel.
- Dollar â from Czech tolar (taler), a silver coin used in the Czech lands since the 15th century.
- háÃÂek â a diacritical mark, literally "little hook", e.g. àis letter c having háÃÂek. Also known as "caron".
- howitzer â from houfnice, a 15th-century Hussite catapult; houf meaning crowd or band
- kolache â from koláàor koláÃÂek.
- koczwarism â Sexual asphyxiophilia in medical slang; after FrantiÃ
¡ek KoÃÂvara
- polka â from Polák or polský, a Czech dance named in remembrance of the November Uprising of 1830; or from PÃ
¯lka, in English half because of its tempo
- pram â from Czech prám, a flatbottomed boat, through Dutch praam and Middle Dutch praem
- robot â from Czech robot (machine resembling a human being), introduced in Karel ÃÂapek's play R.U.R. from the 1920s.
- Semtex â a plastic explosive named after SemtÃÂn, part of the city of Pardubice, Czech Republic, location of its manufacturer.
- Slivovice (Slivovitz), plum brandy â from Czech word slÃÂva (plum)
Sometimes it is mistakenly claimed hocus-pocus has Czech origin since pokus means trial (attempt) or experiment.
References
See also