[3.] Spanish Words.—The words we have received from the Spanish language are not numerous, but they are important. In addition to the ill-fated word armada, we have the Spanish for Mr, which is Don (from Lat. dominus, a lord), with its feminine Duenna. They gave us also alligator, which is our English way of writing el lagarto, the lizard. They also presented us with a large number of words that end in o—such as buffalo, cargo, desperado, guano, indigo, mosquito, mulatto, negro, potato, tornado, and others. The following is a tolerably full list:—

Alligator.
Armada.
Barricade.
Battledore.
Bravado.
Buffalo.
Cargo.
Cigar.
Cochineal.
 Cork.
Creole.
Desperado.
Don.
Duenna.
Eldorado.
Embargo.
Filibuster.
Flotilla.
 Galleon (a ship).
Grandee.
Grenade.
Guerilla.
Indigo.
Jennet.
Matador.
Merino.
Mosquito.
 Mulatto.
Negro.
Octoroon.
Quadroon.
Renegade.
Savannah.
Sherry (= Xeres).
Tornado.
Vanilla.

[4.] Italian Words.—Italian literature has been read and cultivated in England since the time of Chaucer—since the fourteenth century; and the arts and artists of Italy have for many centuries exerted a great deal of influence on those of England. Hence it is that we owe to the Italian language a large number of words. These relate to poetry, such as canto, sonnet, stanza; to music, as pianoforte, opera, oratorio, soprano, alto, contralto; to architecture and sculpture, as

portico, piazza, cupola, torso; and to painting, as studio, fresco (an open-air painting), and others. The following is a complete list:—

Alarm.
Alert.
Alto.
Arcade.
Balcony.
Balustrade.
Bandit.
Bankrupt.
Bravo.
Brigade.
Brigand.
Broccoli.
Burlesque.
Bust.
Cameo.
Canteen.
Canto.
Caprice.
Caricature.
Carnival.
Cartoon.
Cascade.
Cavalcade.
 Charlatan.
Citadel.
Colonnade.
Concert.
Contralto.
Conversazione.
Cornice.
Corridor.
Cupola.
Curvet.
Dilettante.
Ditto.
Doge.
Domino.
Extravaganza.
Fiasco.
Folio.
Fresco.
Gazette.
Gondola.
Granite.
Grotto.
Guitar.
 Incognito.
Influenza.
Lagoon.
Lava.
Lazaretto.
Macaroni.
Madonna.
Madrigal.
Malaria.
Manifesto.
Motto.
Moustache.
Niche.
Opera.
Oratorio.
Palette.
Pantaloon.
Parapet.
Pedant.
Pianoforte.
Piazza.
Pistol.
Portico.
 Proviso.
Quarto.
Regatta.
Ruffian.
Serenade.
Sonnet.
Soprano.
Stanza.
Stiletto.
Stucco.
Studio.
Tenor.
Terra-cotta.
Tirade.
Torso.
Trombone.
Umbrella.
Vermilion.
Vertu.
Virtuoso.
Vista.
Volcano.
Zany.

[5.] Dutch Words.—We have had for many centuries commercial dealings with the Dutch; and as they, like ourselves, are a great seafaring people, they have given us a number of words relating to the management of ships. In the fourteenth century, the southern part of the German Ocean was the most frequented sea in the world; and the chances of plunder were so great that ships of war had to keep cruising up and down to protect the trading vessels that sailed between England and the Low Countries. The following are the words which we owe to the Netherlands:—

Ballast.
Boom.
Boor.
Burgomaster.
Hoy.
 Luff.
Reef.
Schiedam (gin).
Skates.
Skipper.
 Sloop.
Smack.
Smuggle.
Stiver.
Taffrail.
 Trigger.
Wear (said of a ship). Yacht.
Yawl.

[6.] French Words.—Besides the large additions to our language made by the Norman-French, we have from time to time imported direct from France a number of French words, without change in the spelling, and with little change in the pronunciation. The French have been for centuries the most polished nation in Europe; from France the changing fashions in dress spread over all the countries of the Continent; French literature has been much read in England since the time of Charles II.; and for a long time all diplomatic correspondence between foreign countries and England was carried on in French. Words relating to manners and customs are common, such as soirée, etiquette, séance, élite; and we have also the names of things which were invented in France, such as mitrailleuse, carte-de-visite, coup d’état, and others. Some of these words are, in spelling, exactly like English; and advantage of this has been taken in a well-known epigram:—

The French have taste in all they do,

Which we are quite without;