Words
Unless noted otherwise, all words listed here are assumed to be pluralized by adding -s or -es. References in the "Sources" column relate to the headword in column one; variant spellings are then separately referenced. The sources given are selective, and the absence of a reference to a particular dictionary does not necessarily mean that the word does not appear in that dictionary.
| Word | Meaning | Sources | Other forms | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| buqsha | A former Yemeni monetary unit | Also written bogache | Arabic | |
| burqa | A veiled garment worn by some Muslim women | Also written burka, burkha, or burqua | Urdu and Persian burqa, from Arabic burqu` | |
| cinq | The number five, as signified in dice or cards | French cinq, "five" | ||
| cinqfoil | A plant of the genus Potentilla, or an ornamental design thereof | 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 | French coq, "cockerel" | ||
| faqih | An Islamic jurisprudent | Plural faqihs or fuqaha | Arabic فقيه | |
| faqir | A Muslim ascetic | More commonly written fakir | Arabic فقير, "poverty-stricken" | |
| fiqh | Muslim jurisprudence | Arabic فقه, "understanding" | ||
| inqilab | A revolution in India or Pakistan | Arabic إنقلاب | ||
| mbaqanga | A style of South African music | Zulu umbaqanga, "steamed maize bread" | ||
| miqra | The Tanakh, or Hebrew text of the Bible | Hebrew מקרא | ||
| muqaddam | A Bangladeshi headman | Arabic مقدم | ||
| nastaliq | An Arabic script used in Persian writings | Also written nasta'liq, nestaliq, nastaleeq, or shortened to just taliq | Persian نستعليق, from naskh + ta`liq | |
| niqab | A veil for the lower-face worn by some Muslim women | Also written niqaab | From Arabic نِقاب | |
| pontacq | A sweet wine from Pontacq (France) | |||
| qabab | A dish consisting of pieces of seasoned meat | More commonly written kebab, kebap, kebob, kibob, kebhav, kephav, kebabie, or kabob | Persian کباب | |
| qabalah | A form of Jewish mysticism | More commonly written Kabbalah, and also written Qabala, Qabbala, Cabalah etc. Derived words include qabalism, qabalist, and qabalistic. | Hebrew קַבָּלָה | |
| qadarite | A member of the Qadariyah | |||
| qadariyah | In Islam, adherents of the doctrine of free will | Also written Qadariya | ||
| qaddish | In Judaism, a prayer of mourning | More commonly written Kaddish | Hebrew קדיש | |
| qadi | A Muslim judge | Also written qadhi, qaadi, kadi, kazi qaadee or qazi | Arabic قاضى | |
| qadiriyah | In Islam, a Sufi order | Also written Qadiriya | Arabic القادريه | |
| qaf | Twenty-first letter of the Arabic alphabet | Also written qaph or qap | Arabic ق | |
| qaid | A Muslim tribal chief | Also written caid or kaid | Arabic قائد, "leader", "commander" | |
| qaimaqam | A minor official of the Ottoman Empire | Also written kaymakam, kaimakam, caimacam, or qaim makam | From Arabic قائم, "standing" + مقام "place", meaning "standing in place" | |
| qalamdan | A Persian writing-case | Persian قلمدان | ||
| qalandar | A member of an order of mendicant dervishes | Also written calender, or capitalised | ||
| qanat | A type of water-supply tunnel found in north Africa and the Middle East | Also written kanat, khanat, kunut, kona, konait, ghanat, or ghundat | Persian, from Arabic qanāt, "channel" | |
| qanun | A type of harp | Also written qanon or kanun | Arabic قانون, rule, principle or mode | |
| qasida | An Arabian poem of praise or satire | Also written qasidah | Arabic قصيدة | |
| qat | A kind of Arabian shrub used as a narcotic | More commonly written khat, kat or gat | Arabic qāt | |
| qawwal | A person who practises qawwali music | |||
| qawwali | Devotional music of the Sufis | Arabic قوٌالی (qawwāli), "loquacious" or "singer" | ||
| qepiq | An Azerbaijani unit of currency | Azerbaijani qəpik | ||
| qere | A marginal reading in the Hebrew Bible | Also written qeri or qre | Aramaic קְרֵי, " read" | |
| qhat | An obsolete spelling of what | |||
| qheche | An obsolete spelling of which | |||
| qhom | An obsolete spelling of whom | |||
| qhythsontyd | An obsolete spelling of Whitsuntide (the day of Pentecost) | |||
| qi | In Chinese culture, a physical life force | Commonly written chi or ki | Chinese 氣, 'air' | |
| qiana | A type of nylon | Originally a trademark of DuPont, now generic | ||
| qibla | The point to which Muslims turn in prayer | Also written qiblah, kiblah, qiblih, kibla or qib'lah, sometimes capitalised | 17th Century Arabic, "the opposite" | |
| qibli | A local Libyan name for the sirocco, a southeasterly Mediterranean wind | Also written ghibli | Arabic قبلي, "coming from the qibla | |
| qigong | A Chinese system of medical exercises | Also written qi gong, ki gong, or chi kung | Chinese 气功 (simp.) | |
| qin | A classification of Chinese musical instruments | Chinese 琴 | ||
| qinah | A Hebrew elegy | Also written kinah; plural qinot, qinoth | Hebrew קינה | |
| qindar | An Albanian unit of currency, equal to one one-hundredth of a lek | Plural qindarka or qindars . Also written qintar or quintal | Albanian | |
| qinghaosu | A drug, artemisinin, used to treat malaria | Chinese 青蒿素 | ||
| qipao | A traditional Chinese dress | Also written chi pao | Chinese 旗袍 | |
| qirsh | A monetary unit of Saudi Arabia and, formerly, various other countries | Also written qurush, qursh, gursh, girsh or ghirsh | ||
| qiviut | The wool of the musk-ox | Inuktitut ᕿᕕᐅᖅ | ||
| qiyas | An analogy in Sharia, Islamic law | Arabic قياس | ||
| qoph | The nineteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet | Also written koph | Hebrew קוף | |
| qorma | A type of curry | Much more commonly written korma | Persian→Urdu قورمه | |
| qwerty | A standard English keyboard layout | Plural qwertys or qwerties; also rendered QWERTY | Named after the letters on the top row of keys. | |
| rencq | An obsolete spelling of rank | |||
| sambuq | A type of Dhow, a small Arabian boat | Arabic سنبوك | ||
| sheqel | A unit of weight originally used in Mesopotamia. The currency of Israel, divided into 100 agorot | Plural sheqels or sheqalim; more commonly written shekel | Hebrew שקל, Yiddish ניי-שקל | |
| souq | An Arab marketplace | Also written soq, souk, esouk, suk, sooq, souq, or suq | Arabic سوق (sūq) | |
| talaq | A form of Islamic divorce | Arabic talaq, from talaqa, "repudiate" | ||
| taluq | An Indian estate | Also written taluk or talook | Arabic→Urdu تعلقه, ta'alluqa, "connection", "relationship" | |
| taluqdar | A person who collects the revenues of a taluq | 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 | |||
| taqiya | In Islam, the dissimulation of faith displayed for fear of one's life | Also written taqiyah, or capitalised | Arabic التقية | |
| taqlid | Acceptance of Muslim orthodoxy | Arabic قْلي | ||
| tariqa | A Sufi method of spiritual development, or a Sufi missionary | Also written tariqat or tarika | Arabic طريق | |
| tranq | A form of sedative | Also written trank | Apocopation from tranquilizer | |
| tsaddiq | In Judaism, a term bestowed upon the righteous. | Plural tsaddiqs or tsaddiqim; also written tzaddiq, tzadik or tzaddik | Hebrew צדיק | |
| umiaq | An open inuit boat | Also spelled umiak, umialak, umiac, oomiac or oomiak | ||
| waqf | A charitable trust in Islamic law | Also written wakf; plural waqf or waqfs | Arabic, literally "stoppage" from waqafa, "come to a standstill" | |
| yaqona | A Fijian intoxicating beverage, kava | Fijian yaqona, in which q represents |
Read more about this topic: List Of English Words Containing Q Not Followed By U
Famous quotes containing the word words:
“The dog barks, the caravan passes on.
The words had a sort of bloom on them
But were weightless, carrying past what was being said.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“The words of the Constitution ... are so unrestricted by their intrinsic meaning or by their history or by tradition or by prior decisions that they leave the individual Justice free, if indeed they do not compel him, to gather meaning not from reading the Constitution but from reading life.”
—Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965)
“Some words live in my throat
breeding like adders. Others know sun
seeking like gypsies over my tongue
to explode through my lips”
—Audre Lorde (b. 1934)