Important Foreign Words and Phrases with Meanings – PDF Download

Important Foreign Words and Phrases with Meanings

Important Foreign Words and Phrases : In english, we often use many foreign words and phrases but many times we are not aware about their origin or exact meaning. Foreign words are those words that have roots from other language or simply we can define it as a word that is adopted from other language. They are normally written in italics to identify that they are foreign. Most of these foreign words are taken from Latin. In today’s post we will discuss about these foreign words and phrases with their actual meaning in English.

List of Foreign Words / Phrases with Origin and Meaning

List of Foreign Words / Phrases provided below along with their meaning.

No.	Foreign Words / Phrases	Origin	Meaning
1	ab initio	Latin	From the beginning
2	ab origine	Latin	From the origin
3	addendum	Latin	An appendix; something added
4	ad hoc	Latin	For a particular purpose
5	ad infinitum	Latin	To infinity, forever
6	ad interim	Latin	Temporarily; for the time being
7	ad libitum	Latin	At Pleasure
8	ad nauseam	Latin	To the point of disgust
9	ad valorem	Latin	According to value; excise and customs duties are so leived.
10	a fortiori	French	With more still stronger reason
11	aide-de-camp	French	a subordinate staff officer personally assisting a commanding officer.
12	a la carte	Latin	A Selected meal; according to the menu
13	alias	Latin	A second name bestowed upon himself by a person
14	alibi	Latin	Elsewhere
15	alma mater	Latin	Fostering mother, used by students for their school or university.
16	ante meridiem	Latin	Before noon’; morning (am)
17	au fait	French	Well-versed; an expert
18	bandolero	Spanish	a dacoit or bandit
19	bella donna	Italian	A pretty woman
20	bete noire	French	An object of dislike
21	bona fide	Latin	In good faith; general probability; genuine
22	bona enfant	French	A good fellow
23	bon voyage	French	An enjoyable journey. especially abroad.
24	cadre	French	Official status; list of officers
25	canard	French	A hoax or rumour
26	carte blanche	French	A free hand; full powers; full freedom
27	charge d’saffaires	French	A subordinate diplomat or one who acts as an ambassador
28	compte rendu	French	A report or review; an account rendered .
29	confer	Latin	Compare
30	corpus delichi	Latin	The substance of an offence
31	corrigendum	Latin	Correction made in book after printing
32	coup d’etat	French	A swift stroke or policy; to change government by rebellion
33	coup de grace	French	a death bow
34	coup de main	French	A bold attempt
35	cuisine	French	The kind of cooking or speciality dishes
36	de facto	Latin	In fact; in reality
37	de jure	Latin	In law; rightful; legally
38	de novo	Latin	Anew; again; afresh
39	de trop	Latin	Too much; superfluous
40	elite	French	The best; superior

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No	Foreign Words / Phrases	Origin	Meaning
41	emeritus	Latin	One retired from active service (professor)
42	en attendant	French	In the meanwhile
43	en bloc	French	Taken all together, in a body
44	en effet	French	In effect; reality
45	en masse	French	Several person; in body
46	en train	French	Under progress or process
47	esprit de corps	French	Spirit of comradeship
48	Exempli gratia	Latin	For example (e.g)
49	exempli gratia	Latin	As an act of grace; payment made in favour or free
50	ex gratia	Latin	By virtue of his office/post
51	ex parte	Latin	One-sided judgement
52	ex post facto	Latin	After a happening; retrospectively
53	ex tempore	Latin	Without preparation; especially a speech made without preparation
54	facsimile	Latin	A perfect copy
55	fait accompli	French	A thing done (without reference to interested parties); a work surely done
56	faux pas	French	A false step or social blunder
57	festina lente	Latin	Make haste slowly; careful
58	gratis	Latin	Free of charge
59	honoris causa	Latin	Honorary
60	ibidem (ibid)	Latin	In the same place; used for subsequent references (s) to the same place
61	idem	Latin	The same
62	in aeternum	Latin	Etemal or forever
63	in initio	Latin	In the beginning
64	in statu q3uo	Latin	In its original state
65	inter alia	Latin	Among other things
66	in toto	Latin	Completely or entirely
67	ipso facto	Latin	In fact; virtually; really
68	ipso jure	Latin	By the law
69	jure humano	Latin	By man’s law
70	lacuna	Latin	A gap; shortcoming
71	laissez-faire	French	Complete freedom
72	locus standi	Latin	A place for standing; the right to appear before a court or participate in a process
73	mandamus	Latin	A writ issued by a higher court to a subordinate court
74	materia medica	Latin	Material used for medicine; in current use pharmacology is included
75	matinee	French	An afternoon performance – usually cinema artists
76	me judice	Latin	In my opinion
77	Memorabilia	Latin	Things to be remember
78	modus operandi	Latin	A method of doing something/operating
79	note bene	Latin	Note below
80	obiter dictum	Latin	An opinion given by a judge in acourt but not a verdict
81	par excellence	French	Extra excellence; preeminent
82	par exemple	French	For example
83	pari passu	Latin	With equal pace; together
84	per annum	Latin	Per year; annually
85	per capita	Latin	Per person
86	per mensum	Latin	Per month
87	per diem	Latin	Per day; by the by
88	persona grata	Latin	A welcome guest
89	post meridiem	Latin	Afternoon (pm)
90	post mortem	Latin	An examination of dead body to find cause of death; after death
91	prima facie	Latin	At first sight; a case that calls for investigation
92	pro rata	Latin	In proportion
93	repondez, s’il vous plait	French	Reply, if you please (RSVP)
94	res judicata	French	In law; already decided
95	resume	French	A summary
96	sine die	Latin	Indefinitely; without a day
97	sobriquet	Latin	A nick name
98	status quo	Latin	As things were before
99	stet	Latin	Let it stand; an instruction to the printer or typist
100	sub judice	Latin	Pending under judicial consideration
101	tete-a-tete	French	A private or face to face conversation
102	tout a coup	French	Suddenly
103	ultimo	Latin	Last month
104	utra vires	Latin	Beyond the powers possessed, not valid
105	vade mecum	Latin	A constantly consulted aid; often a handbook
106	versus	Latin	Against
107	via media	Latin	A middle course; solution
108	vice versa	Latin	The order being reversed
109	vis-a-vis	French	Opposite; face to face
110	viva voca	Latin	Oral examination

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Important MCQs on Foreign Words/ Phrases

1. What does the abbreviation 'A.D.' stands for?

(A) Anno Domini
(B) Anti-dote
(C) After death
(D) Add data

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2. What is the meaning of the word 'viva voce' ?

(A) Examination
(B) Face to face
(C) A spoken examination
(D) Interview

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3. 'A la mode' means –

(A) according to the current fashion
(B) in the menu
(C) out of mood
(D) way of doing

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4. Phrase 'amicus curiae' means —

(A) an amicuricus dream
(B) a senior advocate
(C) a friend of the court
(D) an arbitrator

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5. B. C. stands for —

(A) Before Catastrophe
(B) Before Coronation
(C) Before Christ
(D) British Church

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6. 'Prima facie' means:

(A) last supper
(B) premier value
(C) famous person
(D) at the first view

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7. 'Modus Operandi' means –

(A) failed operation
(B) opera song
(C) suitable object
(D) method of operation

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8. What is the meaning of the word 'vice versa'?

(A) For example
(B) Face to face
(C) Namely
(D) The terms being exchanged

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9. Which word is related to Mens rea?

(A) Dishonest mind
(B) Guilty mind
(C) Mens Smartness
(D) None of these

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10. 'ad hoc' is a ____ word.

(A) French
(B) German
(C) English
(D) Latin

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11. What is the meaning of the phrase 'sine die'?

(A) for a certain period
(B) for a short time
(C) for an uncertain period
(D) none of the above

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12. Mens Legis means –

(A) Mens rea
(B) Legal status of the men
(C) Purpose of the law
(D) Preamble of the law

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13. N.B. (NOTA BENE) means

(A) Note well
(B) Take notice
(C) Look into
(D) a+b

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14. What does 'CV' stand for?

(A) Curriculum vital
(B) Curriculum value
(C) Current value
(D) Curriculum vitae

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15. Salarium is a Latin word that means –

(A) salt
(B) salary
(C) soldiers
(D) the salt road

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16. The Latin expression 'i.e'

(A) id est
(B) ideal energy
(C) inner edition
(D) in Europe

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17. What is the meaning of 'Bona fides'?

(A) Good faith
(B) Bonus
(C) False belief
(D) Genuine cultivator

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18. The meaning of 'status quo' is –

(A) equal status
(B) state of affair that existed previously
(C) high status
(D) the former state

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19. “Novel” means something new and derived from:

(A) French
(B) Arabic
(C) Latin
(D) Greek

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20. What is the meaning of the word 'Viva voce'?

(A) Sleeping
(B) Reading
(C) Orally
(D) Runnings

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21. The word 'Quorum' means –

(A) required number
(B) number
(C) allowed number
(D) additional number

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22. Sin die means –

(A) immediately
(B) closed for the day
(C) on his death
(D) adjourned indefinitely

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