Word |
Meaning |
Sources |
Other forms |
Etymology |
bianqing |
An ancient Chinese percussion instrument |
[MW] |
|
Chinese: 編磬 |
buqsha |
A former Yemeni monetary unit |
[L] |
Also written bogache |
Arabic |
burqa |
A veiled garment worn by some Muslim women |
[ODE][LC][C][AHC][OED] |
Also written burka, burkha, or burqua |
Urdu and Persian burqa, from Arabic burqu` |
cinq |
The number five, as signified in dice or cards |
[ODE][COD][OED] |
|
French cinq 'five' |
cinqfoil |
A plant of the genus Potentilla, or an ornamental design thereof |
[SOED][OED] |
Much more commonly written cinquefoil |
Middle English, from Latin quinquefolium, from quinque 'five' + folium 'leaf' |
coq |
A trimming of cock feathers on a woman's hat |
[WI] |
|
French coq 'cockerel' |
faqih |
An Islamic jurisprudent |
[RHW] |
Plural faqihs or fuqaha [RHU] |
Arabic فَقِيه |
faqir |
A Muslim ascetic |
[L] |
More commonly written fakir |
Arabic فَقِير 'poverty-stricken' |
fiqh |
Muslim jurisprudence |
[ODE] |
|
Arabic فِقْه 'understanding' |
inqilab |
A revolution in India or Pakistan |
[C] |
|
Arabic إِنْقِلَاب |
jelq |
Manual penis enlargement exercise |
|
Is also a verb. Derived words include jelqs, jelqed and jelqing |
|
mbaqanga |
A style of South African music |
[ODE][C][W] |
|
Zulu umbaqanga 'steamed maize bread' |
miqra |
The Tanakh, or Hebrew text of the Bible |
[WI] |
|
Hebrew מקרא |
muqaddam |
A Bangladeshi or Punjabi headman |
[C] |
|
Arabic مُقَدَّم |
nastaliq |
An Arabic script used in Persian writings |
[OED] |
Also written nasta'liq [C], nestaliq [OED], nastaleeq, or shortened to just taliq [OED] |
Persian نستعليق, from naskh + ta`liq |
niqab |
A veil for the lower-face worn by some Muslim women |
[ODE] |
Also written niqaab |
From Arabic نِقَاب |
nuqta |
Diacritic mark that was introduced in Devanagari |
|
Also written nukta |
|
pontacq |
A sweet wine from Pontacq (France) |
[OED] |
|
French |
q |
Q or q, the 17th letter of the modern English alphabet |
[MW] |
|
Greek or Latin |
qabab |
A dish consisting of pieces of seasoned meat |
[OED] |
More commonly written kebab, kebap, kebob, kibob, kebhav, kephav, kebabie, or kabob |
Persian کباب |
qabalah |
A form of Jewish mysticism |
[C][AHC][WI] |
More commonly written Kabbalah, and also written Qabala [AHC], Qabbala [WI], Cabalah etc. Derived words include qabalism, qabalist, and qabalistic. |
Hebrew קַבָּלָה |
qadarite |
A member of the Qadariyah |
[RHU] |
|
|
qadariyah |
In Islam, adherents of the doctrine of free will |
[RHU] |
Also written Qadariya [RHU] |
|
qaddish |
In Judaism, a prayer of mourning |
[C] |
More commonly written Kaddish |
Hebrew קדיש |
qadi |
A Muslim judge |
[L][C][W][OED][AOX] |
Also written qadhi [OED], qaadi, kadi, kazi qaadee or qazi [OED] |
Arabic قَاضِى |
qadiriyah |
In Islam, a Sufi order |
[RHU] |
Also written Qadiriya [RHU] |
Arabic القَادِرِيَّة |
qaf |
ق, the twenty-first letter of the Arabic alphabet |
[RHW] |
Also written qaph or qap |
Arabic قَاف |
qaid |
A Muslim tribal chief |
[RHW] |
Also written caid or kaid |
Arabic قَائِد, 'leader', 'commander' |
qaimaqam |
A minor official of the Ottoman Empire |
[C][OED] |
Also written kaymakam, kaimakam, caimacam, or qaim makam |
From Arabic قَائِم 'standing' + مَقَام 'place', meaning 'standing in place' |
qalamdan |
A Persian writing-case |
[C] |
|
Persian قلمدان |
qalandar |
A member of an order of mendicant dervishes |
[RHU] |
Also written calender, or capitalised |
|
qanat |
A type of water-supply tunnel found in north Africa and the Middle East |
[ODE][C][OED][AOX] |
Also written kanat, khanat, kunut, kona, konait, ghanat, or ghundat |
Persian, from Arabic qanāt 'channel' |
qanun |
A type of harp |
[OED] |
Also written qanon or kanun [OED] |
Arabic قَانُون, rule, principle or mode |
qasida |
An Arabian poem of praise or satire |
[C][OED][AOX] |
Also written qasidah |
Arabic قَصِيدَة |
qat |
A kind of Arabian shrub used as a narcotic |
[L][C][OED] |
More commonly written khat, kat or gat |
Arabic qāt |
qawwal |
A person who practices qawwali music |
[ODE][C][AOX] |
|
|
qawwali |
Devotional music of the Sufis |
[ODE][C][AOX] |
|
Arabic قوَّالِي (qawwāli) 'loquacious' or 'singer' |
Qazaq |
Variant spelling of the people of Kazakhstan |
[OED] |
More commonly spelled Kazakh. |
|
qere |
A marginal reading in the Hebrew Bible |
[OED][WI] |
Also written qeri [WI] or qre [WI] |
Aramaic קְרֵי, '[what is] read' |
qhat |
An obsolete spelling of what |
[OED] |
|
Likely of Scots origin, in which an older spelling convention used "quh-" or "qh-" where English had "wh-".[9] |
qheche |
An obsolete spelling of which |
[OED] |
|
qhom |
An obsolete spelling of whom |
[OED] |
|
qhythsontyd |
An obsolete spelling of Whitsuntide (the day of Pentecost) |
[OED] |
|
qi |
In Chinese culture, a physical life force |
[ODE][C][AHC][OED] |
Commonly written chi or ki |
simplified Chinese: 气; traditional Chinese: 氣 |
qiana |
A type of nylon |
[OED] |
|
Originally a trademark of DuPont, now generic |
qibla |
The point to which Muslims turn in prayer |
[ODE][COD][C][OED][AOX] |
Also written qiblah [OED], kiblah, qiblih, kibla or qib'lah [RHU], sometimes capitalised |
17th-century Arabic for 'the opposite' |
qibli |
A local Libyan name for the sirocco, a southeasterly Mediterranean wind |
[OED] |
Also written ghibli |
Arabic قِبلي, "coming from the qibla |
qid |
Four times a day |
[MW] |
|
Latin quater in die |
qigong |
A Chinese system of medical exercises |
[ODE][C][AOX] |
Also written chi gong, ki gong, or chi kung |
simplified Chinese: 气功; traditional Chinese: 氣功 |
qin |
A classification of Chinese musical instruments |
[AOX] |
|
Chinese: 琴 |
qinah |
A Hebrew elegy |
[WI] |
Also written kinah; plural qinot, qinoth and qindarkë |
Hebrew קינה |
qindar |
An Albanian unit of currency, equal to one one-hundredth of a lek |
[ODE][L][C] |
Plural qindarka [L] or qindars [C]. Also written qintar [L][C][AOX] or quintal |
Albanian |
qing |
A Chinese chime |
[MW] |
Also written as: ch'ing |
Chinese: 磬 |
qinghaosu |
A drug, artemisinin, used to treat malaria |
[C] |
|
Chinese: 青蒿素 |
qingsongite |
A rare mineral found in China. |
|
Plural qingsongites |
named after geologist Qingsong Fang |
qinter |
An Albanian money system |
[OED] |
|
Albanian |
qipao |
A traditional Chinese dress |
[OED] |
Also written chi pao |
Chinese: 旗袍 |
qiran |
A currency of Iran between 1825 and 1932 |
[MW] |
Also written as: kran |
Persian qrān |
qirsh |
A monetary unit of Saudi Arabia and, formerly, various other countries |
[RHU] |
Also written qurush, qursh, gursh, girsh or ghirsh |
|
qiviut |
The wool of the musk-ox |
[OED] |
|
Inuktitut ᕿᕕᐅᖅ |
qiyas |
An analogy in Sharia, Islamic law |
[RHW] |
|
Arabic قِيَاس |
qoph |
The nineteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet |
[L][C] |
Also written koph |
Hebrew קוף |
qorma |
A type of curry |
[Co] |
Much more commonly written korma |
Persian→Urdu قورمه |
QWERTY |
A standard English keyboard layout |
[ODE][COD][LC][C][AOX][OED] |
Plural qwertys or qwerties; also rendered QWERTY |
Named after the first letters on the top row of the QWERTY keyboard layout. |
Qyrghyz |
Variant spelling of the people of Kyrgyzstan |
[MW] |
More commonly spelled Kyrgyz. |
|
rencq |
An obsolete spelling of rank |
[OED] |
|
|
sambuq |
A type of dhow, a small Arabian boat |
[OED] |
|
Arabic سَنْبُوك |
sheqel |
A unit of weight originally used in Mesopotamia. The currency of Israel, divided into 100 agorot |
[MW] |
Plural sheqels or sheqalim; more commonly written shekel |
Hebrew שקל, Yiddish ניי-שקל |
souq |
An Arab marketplace |
[ODE][C][OED][AOX] |
Also written sooq, soq, suq, souk, esouk, or suk |
Arabic سُوق (sūq) |
talaq |
A form of Islamic divorce |
[ODE][C][OED] |
|
Arabic طَلَاق (talāq), from talaqa 'repudiate' |
taluq |
An Indian estate |
[OED] |
Also written taluk or talook |
Arabic→Urdu تَعَلُّقَة (ta'alluqa) 'connection', 'relationship' |
taluqdar |
A person who collects the revenues of a taluq |
[OED] |
Also written talukdar or talookdar |
Arabic→Urdu تعلقدار (ta'alluq-dar) 'landholder', 'possessor of an estate', 'lord of a manor' |
taluqdari |
An Indian landholding tenure |
[OED] |
|
|
taqiya |
Concealing faith in Islam due to fear of persecution |
[RHW] |
Also written taqiyah [RHU], or capitalised |
Arabic التَقِيَّة |
taqlid |
Acceptance of Muslim orthodoxy |
[RHW] |
|
Arabic تَقْلِيد |
tariqa |
A Sufi method of spiritual development, or a Sufi missionary |
[E][AOX] |
Also written tariqat [E] or tarika |
Arabic طَرِيق |
tranq |
Tranquilizer (sedative) |
[OED] |
Also written trank [OED] |
Apocopation from tranquilizer |
tsaddiq |
In Judaism, a title for a righteous person |
[C][OED] |
Plural tsaddiqs or tsaddiqim; also written tzaddiq [C], tzadik or tzaddik |
Hebrew צדיק |
umiaq |
An open Inuit boat |
[OSPD4] |
Also spelled umiak, umialak, umiac, oomiac or oomiak |
|
waqf |
A charitable trust in Islamic law |
[ODE][C][OED] |
Also written wakf; plural waqf [ODE][C][OED] or waqfs [C][OED] |
Arabic, literally 'stoppage' from waqafa, 'come to a standstill' |
xiangqi |
Chess variant native to China |
|
|
Chinese: 象棋 |
xiqin |
Traditional Chinese bowed string musical instrument |
|
|
Chinese: 奚琴 |
yangqin |
A trapezoidal Chinese hammered dulcimer |
[C] |
|
Chinese: 揚琴 |
yaqona |
A Fijian intoxicating beverage, kava |
[C][OED] |
|
Fijian yaqona, in which q represents [ŋɡ] |