A loanword is a word one language has taken in from another and now uses as its own. English is packed with them: kindergarten from German, ballet from French, tsunami from Japanese, tea from Chinese (through other languages on the way).

A loanword is a wordLoanword是一個詞 one language has taken in from another一種語言從另一種語言借來的 and now uses as its own然後當成自己的字來用。English is packed with them英文裡到處都是這種字: kindergarten from Germankindergarten來自德文 ballet from Frenchballet來自法文 tsunami from Japanesetsunami來自日文 tea from Chinese (through other languages on the way)tea來自中文（中間還經過其他語言）。

People say “borrow”, though actually nobody gives the word back — the first language still has it. Some writers split “loanword” (the word itself) from “borrowing” (the taking).

People say "borrow"人們會說「borrow」（借） though actually nobody gives the word back不過實際上沒有人真的把字還回去——the first language still has it原本的語言還是保有這個字。Some writers split "loanword" (the word itself)有些作者會把「loanword」（那個字本身） from "borrowing" (the taking)跟「borrowing」（借用的這個動作）分開來講。

A loanword usually keeps a shape close to the foreign word; a calque is different — you copy the idea piece by piece with your own words. Funny, then, that loanword itself is a calque of German Lehnwort: loan + word, not a German-sounding import.

A loanword usually keeps a shape close to the foreign word一個loanword通常會保持跟外來字很接近的形狀; a calque is differentcalque不一樣——you copy the idea piece by piece with your own words你是用自己語言的字，一塊一塊把那個想法複製過來。Funny, then, that loanword itself is a calque of German Lehnwort說起來也挺有趣，loanword這個字本身就是德文Lehnwort的calque: loan + word, not a German-sounding importloan加word，而不是一個聽起來像德文的外來字。

You may also see it written as two words, loan word; same thing.

You may also see it written as two words, loan word你也可能看到它被拆成兩個字寫，loan word; same thing意思一樣。

It is a language-teacher and linguist word, but the idea is simple, and students meet the thing every day even if they do not meet the label.

It is a language-teacher and linguist word這是個語言老師和語言學家會用的字 but the idea is simple但這個概念很簡單 and students meet the thing every day學生每天都會遇到這種現象 even if they do not meet the label就算他們沒學過這個名詞。