Foreign Words

 Foreign Words

  English is a rich language. It has adopted many words and phrases of different other languages. The Greek, Latin and French words are interwoven in English vocabulary in such a natural manner that they beautify the written as well as the verbal expressions. Some such common foreign words and phrases with their usage are listed below. Read them carefully because a precise knowledge of them will go a long way to help the students in learning effective art of expression :--

  1. Ab initio ( from the very begining )

 * I have started studying the growth and development of human species ab initio.

  2. Ad hoc ( arranged for a special purpose, temporary )

 * After the suspension of the managing committee of the college, an ad hoc managing committee has been set up.

  3. Ad interim ( in the meantime )

 * I will see you soon. You must keep the affairs ready ad interim.

  4. Ad libitum ( as much as you please )

 * Please help the weak ad libitum.

  5. Ad nauseum ( to a disgusting point )

 * We have prepared for the student a book containing several things ad nauseum.

  6. Alpha and Omega  (beginning and end )

 * We must try to know the alpha and omega of the thing we preach.

  7. Alma Mater ( mother institution )

 * Whenever I pass by my alma mater, my heart is filled with pleasure to have a glance at it.

  8. Anno domini ( in the year of our Lord; A. D. )

 * Several events occured anno domini in England.

  9. Alter ego ( bosom friend )

 * Mr. Sahni is my alter ego.

 .10. Alumni ( ex-students of an institution )

 * The alumni of St. Mary's celebrated the New Year Eve.

 11. Ante meridiem ( a.m., before mid-day )

 * Ante meridiem is a Latin word meaning before mid-day.

 12. A la mode (according to the fashion )

 * Her dress was certainly a la mode.

 13. Amour propre ( self-love )

 * Freud's psychological theories are based on amour propre.

 14. A propos ( well suited )

 * His thinking is very much a propose.

 15. Bizarre ( eccentric, fantastic )

 * The undersea world is filled with bizarre and colourful creatures.

 16. Bona fide ( regular, genuine, sincere )

 * Amartya Sen was awarded the Bharat Ratna  for being the bona fide scholar of Economics.

 17. Cafe ( coffee-house, retsaurant )

 * I shall go to cafe tomorrow.

 18. Carte blanche ( full authority or freedom )

 * The Vice-Principal is given carte blancheto work independently.

 19. Chauffeur ( motor-car driver )

 * Moti Prasad is a good chauffeur.

 20. Cortege ( train of attendants, procession )

 * The funeral cortege of Mr. J. P. Narayan was taken out with great pomp and show.

 21. De jure ( accrding to law )

 * Lord Rama was the de jure king of Ayodhya

.

 22. De facto ( real )

 * Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was the de facto leader of Congress ( I ).

 23. Dei Gratia ( by the grace of God )

 * Mohan has been blessed with a son dei gratia.

 24. Dramatis personae ( characters in a drama )

 * The dramatis personae is an essential part of a drama.

 25. Eldorado ( a country full of old and precious stones )

 * Eldorado ( Spanish ) means " the golden one. "

 26. Emeritus ( retired and holding honorary title )

 * Prof. Raj is working as Professor emeritus in English.

 27. En masse ( in a mass, aitogether )

 * The people of the locality reached the office of D. M. en masse.

 28. En route ( on the way )

 * I shall meet my brother at Delhi en route from Lucknow to Bombay.

 29. Ex-officio ( because of one's office or position )

 * The Pricipal is the ex-officio member of the managing committee.

 30. Ex-parte ( one-sided )

 * Magistrate has given an ex-parte decision.

 31. Expirit de corps ( spirit of loyalty and devotion which unites the members of a group or sociey )

 * The Indians living together in a forein country possess an ex pirit de corps.

 32. Genre ( style )

 * Short-story is a separate genre of fiction.

 33. Ibid ( in the same book, chapter, passage )

 * The term Ibid is used to provide a reference for a source that was mentioned previously.

 34. Id est ( that is, i.e. )

 * He was an idiot, id est a bozo.

 35. Il penseroso ( a pensive meloncholy,or thoughtful man )

 * The death of his faher made him il penseroso.

 36. In memorium ( in memory of )

 * Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in memorium his beloved wife.

 37. Ipso facto ( by the very fact, virtually )

 * Being the eldest son of his father, he is the ipso facto heir of the entire property of his father.

 38. In toto ( completely, entirely )

 * He will inherit his father's property in toto.

 39. Laissez-faire ( the state of being free from the Government's control )

 * The Indian Government is going to introduce  a laissez faire economic policy.

 40. Lingua franca ( commom language of all )

 * Hindi is the lingua franca of India.

 41. Literateur ( literary man )

 * Pt. Nehru was a great literateur.

 42. Mademoisselle ( unmarried woman )

 * Sara is a beautiful mademoisselle of sixteen.

 43. Mala fide ( with a bad intension )

 * Though mothers punish their children yet there is nothing mala fide in it.

 44. Magnum opus ( great literary undertaking )

 * Hamlet is the magnum opus of Shakespeare.

 45. Modus operandi ( the mode of working )

 * The modus operandi of a policeman is different from that of a lay man.

 46. Monsieur ( French equivalent of Mr. )

 * He thanked Monsieur Rajesh for his kindness.

 47. Nota bene ( N. B. , Take notice, note well )

 * N. B. -What you write should be neat and tidy.

 48. Par excellence ( superb, above all others )

 * Kalidas, the Sanskrit poet, was a poet par excellence.

 49. Parole ( word of honour )

 * The decoit has been left on parole.

 50. Per annum (per year )

 * He gets Rs. 2,00,000/- per annum.

 51. Per capita ( per individual )

 * The per capita inome of our country is not up to the mark.

 52. Prime facie (based on the first impression )

 * He produed the prime facie evidence against the accused.

 53. Pro forma ( done for the sake of form )

 * The pro form of the the application is given in the booklet.

 54. Post meridiem ( p. m. , after mid-day )

 * Post meridiem is a Latin word meaning after mid-day.

 55. Sans ( wihout )

 * The old age is an age sans teeth, eye-sight and hearing power.

 56. Sine die ( without date, indefinitely )

 * The Principal has closed the college sine die.

 57. Sine quannon ( neccessary condition )

 * Simpliity is the status quannon of the Indian life.

 58. Status quo ( same position )

 * Hari is very poor but he maintains his status quo in his society.

 59. Summum bonum ( the chief good )

 * A quiet and happy life is the summum  bonum of man.

 60 Tete-e-tete ( informal talk )

 * Mohini had a tete-e-tete with Charu.

 61. Tempo ( characteristic style of movement )

 * One should watch the tempo of the mob and only then take action.

 62. Tour de force ( a feat of strength or skill )

 * The victory of the Indian forces in Kargil was a tour de force of the Indian armed forces.

 63. Ultra vires  (beyond the power or authority granted by law )

 * The Principal's orders to dismiss a peon are considerd ultra vires by the court.

 64. Verbatim ( word for word ) 

* He has learnedalmost all poems of Wordsworth verbstim.

 65. Versus ( against )

 * Write a note on peace versus war.

 66. Via media ( middle course ) 

 * Hari is trying to find out a via media to bring Ramesh and Sohan together.

 67. Vice versa ( in opposed way )

* Change the sentence of active voice into passive voice and vice versa.

 68. Viva voce ( oral examination ) 

* Every University holds viva voce tests in science.

 69. Vox populi vox del ( voice of the people is the voice of God ) 

 * In democracy vox populi vox del.

          SOME MORE FOREIGN EXPRESSIONS:--
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 70. ad absurdum  (to the point of absurdity)

 * “He tediously repeated his argument ad absurdum.”

  
 71. ad infinitum (to infinity)

 * “The lecture seemed to drone on ad infinitum.”

 73. aficionado ( an ardent devotee ).

 * I was surprised at what a baseball aficionado she had become.

 74. annus mirabilis ( wonderful year )

 * Last year was the annus mirabilis for my company.

 75. au courant ( up-to-date )

 * The shoes, the hair, the clothes—every last detail of her dress, in fact—was utterly au courant.

 76. beau geste ( a fine or noble gesture, often futile )

 * My fellow writers supported me by writing letters of protest to the publisher, but their beau geste could not prevent the inevitable.

 77. beau monde ( high society )

 * Such elegant decor would impress even the beau monde.

 78. bête noire ( something or someone particularly disliked )

 * Talk of the good old college days way back when had become his bête noire, and he began to avoid his school friends.

 79. bon mot ( a witty remark or comment

 * One bon mot after another flew out of his mouth, charming the audience.

 80. bon vivant ( a person who lives luxuriously and enjoys good food and drink )

 * It's true he's quite the bon vivant, but when he gets down to business he conducts himself like a Spartan

 81. casus belli  ( an act justifying war).

 * “The general felt that the banana republic's insolent remarks about our national honor were enough of a casus belli to launch an attack.”

 82. caveat emptor ( let the buyer beware )

* Before you leap at that real estate deal, caveat emptor!

 83. comme ci comme ça ( so-so )

 * The plans for the party strike me as comme ci comme ça.

 84. comme il faut ( as it should be; fitting )

 * His end was truly comme il faut.

 85. coup de grâce ( finishing blow )

 * After an already wildly successful day, the coup de grâce came when she won best all-around athlete.

 86. de rigueur ( strictly required, as by etiquette, usage, or fashion )

 * Loudly proclaiming one's support for radical causes had become de rigueur among her crowd.

 87. enfant terrible ( an incorrigible child; an outrageously outspoken or bold person )

 * He played the role of enfant terrible, jolting us with his blunt assessment.

 88. entre nous ( between ourselves; confidentially )

 * Entre nous, their marriage is on the rocks.

 89. fait accompli ( an accomplished fact, presumably irreversible )

* There's no use protesting—it's a fait accompli.

 90. faux pas ( a social blunder )

 * Suddenly, she realized she had unwittingly committed yet another faux pas.

 91. Feinschmecker ( gourmet )

 * No, I don't think McDonald's will do; he's much too much of a Feinschmecker.

 92. flagrante delicto ( in the act )

 * The detective realized that without hard evidence he had no case; he would have to catch the culprit flagrante delicto.

 93. hoi polloi ( the common people )

 * Marie Antoinette recommended cake to the hoi polloi.

 94. in loco parentis ( in the place of a parent )

 * The court appointed a guardian for the children, to serve in loco parentis.

 
 95. in medias res ( in the middle of a sequence of occurences )

 * The film begins in medias res, with a panting, terrified man running through the night.

 96. in situ ( situated in the original or natural position )

 * I prefer seeing statues in situ rather than in the confines of a museum.

 97. in vino veritas ( in wine there is truth )

 * By the end of the party, several of the guests had made a good deal of their private lives public, prompting the host to murmur to his wife, ‘in vino veritas.

 98. mano a mano ( directly or face-to-face in a confrontation or conflict )

 * Stay out of it, he admonished his friends, I want to handle this guy mano a mano.

 99. nom de guerre ( pseudonym )

 * He went by his nom de guerre when frequenting trendy nightclubs.

100. nom de plume ( pen name )

 * Deciding it was time to sit down and begin a novel, the would-be writer spent the first several hours deciding upon a suitable nom de plume.

101. persona non grata ( unacceptable or unwelcome person )

 * Once I was cut out of the will, I became persona non grata among my relatives.

102. prima facie ( at first sight, clear and evident )

 * Although her husband implored, ‘I can explain!’ the sight of another woman wrapped in his arms was prima facie evidence that he was a deceitful lout.

103. pro bono ( done or donated without charge; free )

 * The lawyer's pro bono work gave him a sense of value that his work on behalf of the corporation could not.

104. quid pro quo ( something for something; an equal exchange )

 * “She vowed that when she had the means, she would return his favors quid pro quo.”

105. sans souci ( carefree )

 * After serveral glasses of champagne, their mood turned distinctly sans souci.

106. savoir-faire ( the ability to say and do the correct thing )

 * “She presided over the gathering with impressive savoir-faire.”

107. sotto voce ( in a quiet voice )

 * While the others were distracted, he filled me in sotto voce on all the delicously sordid details of the scandal.

108. sui generis ( unique )

 * Adjusting her pirate's hat and fringed hula skirt, Zelda sashayed into the party, knowing her fashion statement was sui generis.

109. terra incognita ( unknown territory )

 * “When the conversation suddenly switched from contemporary fiction to medieval Albanian playwrights, he felt himself entering terra incognita.” 

110. tout le monde ( everybody; everyone of importance )

 * Don't miss the event; it's bound to be attended by tout le monde.

111. veni, vidi, vici ( I came, I saw, I conquered )

 * After the takeover the business mogul gloated, ‘veni, vidi, vici.

112. verboten ( forbidden, as by law; prohibited )

 * That topic, I am afraid, is verboten in this household.

113. Weltanschauung ( a world view or philosophy of life )

 * His Weltanschauung gradually metamorphized from a grim and pessimistic one to a sunny, but no less complex, view.

114. Zeitgeist ( the thought or sensibility characteristic of a particular period of time )

 * She blamed it on the Zeitgeist, which encouraged hedonistic excess.

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